New Leaf
by ZeroIXResoleon
Summary: Noel had just transferred to a different school. Soon, she becomes an avatar. Intertwines with Life's Stimulant.
1. Arrived!

Hello everybody and welcome to another Blazblue SevilResoleon Fanfiction.

Tsubaki and Makoto were anxiously awaiting who their new roommate could possibly be.

Let's find out.

Warning: This story is in an Alternate Universe setting! If you are offended by such material, please look away from this Fanfiction right now.

* * *

**Noel X Ragna Story: New Leaf **

**Rebel One: Arrived! **

Tsubaki Yayoi, renowned student of the local high school and Makoto Nanaya, squirrel beastki were anxiously waiting for their new roommate.

Makoto Nanaya is pacing the floor back and forth, out of overflowing energy that cannot be contained. It's obvious that she wanted to meet this new roommate as soon as possible.

Tsubaki Yayoi, on the other hand, was looking over her books to study about the lesson taught earlier during the day to distract her from the thought of meeting their new roommate. Unfortunately, she got a distraction from Makoto's quick pacing. Tsubaki sighs heavily before addressing what's bothering her. "Makoto, could you please stop pacing effortlessly in here? Why don't you just go for a walk if you really can't sit still?"

Makoto beams at Tsubaki with radiant eyes. For some reason, her eyes grow radiant whenever she gets very excited. "Then I would miss meeting the new roommate!"

Tsubaki shakes her head. "Our new roommate isn't exactly here to vacation, you know. She still has to take her entrance exams and get settled in. I'm looking forward to meet her as much you are but there is no need to be this ecstatic about her."

Makoto frantically looks at her watch. "Gosh, it's already ten! That guy told us she'd be here by nine-thirty! Do you think she got lost?"

Tsubaki shrugs her shoulders. "I don't really know, to tell you the truth. Now you're starting to get me worried."

Makoto starches her head a few times to come up with possible reasons why. "Maybe she got lost?"

Tsubaki nods. "Possibly...or maybe she went to the wrong apartment complex?"

Makoto gasps. "Oh my God, you could be right about that! Damn, we're good!"

Tsubaki's eyes thinned. "Wait...how would that be good? We haven't even met this girl yet so we wouldn't have any conception as to what her physiology is."

Makoto leers at Tsubaki. "Shut up with you and your big words!"

Tsubaki clears her throat. "I'm quite proud of my use of vocabulary, thank you very much! You should learn some of those words, too. It'll help you speak a bit...cleaner, if you know what I mean."

Makoto starts to make her frown evident. "Come on, Tsubaki! Stop bitching about me! Look, I'll stop bitching and moaning once the new girl shows up, okay?"

Right on cue, knocks could be heard from the door. Makoto sprints to the door and eagerly opens the door. Tsubaki removes herself from her seat to see who's at the door as well. The two could see a blond haired girl with emerald eyes, wearing a light blue light dress, holding a few bags. Not only that, she looks a bit exhausted as well.

Tsubaki and Makoto were taken aback by this. They did not expect their new roommate to be like this at all.

Noel puts her bags down and bows. "Are you Tsubaki Yayoi and Makoto Nanaya?"

Makoto's eyes radiated. "Oh my God! Yes! Are you the new roommate?"

Noel nods. "Well...yes because I was told I'm supposed come here. I got lost a few times on the way here and I'm aware that I was supposed to be here about a half hour ago. I'm sorry."

Tsubaki holds out a single hand. "Please don't trouble yourself. All that matters is that you're here now. Here, let's help you get settled in."

Noel lets herself inside the apartment while Makoto and Tsubaki each held a bag from Noel.

* * *

Noel is sitting on the sofa in the living room of the apartment. She was about to introduce herself to her two new roommates. "It's a pleasure to meet you two. I'm Noel Vermillion. I transferred over here." Noel looks back and forth every few seconds between Tsubaki and Makoto who were looking at her with a somewhat serious look. Her forehead started to yield sweat.

Tsubaki nods toward Noel. "I'm Tsubaki Yayoi. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."

Makoto smiles toward Noel. "I'm Makoto Nanaya. It's nice to meet you also. This girl that's sitting on the other chair next to me can be a little nitpicky sometimes." Makoto giggles after saying that statement.

Tsubali scoffs. "Makoto, enough! Anyway, please excuse Makoto here. She's a little...hyperactive but she's nice. We're aware that you have to take an entrance exam to our school. You also know this, right...Noel?"

Noel nods.

Tsubaki nods in approval. "Okay! Well...there are four beds in the bedroom. That means you have two to choose from."

Noel stands and bows again. "Thank you! I'm sure I'll be causing much trouble from now on but I'll be sure to be a good roommate."

Tsubaki giggles. She was starting to like this girl already. "You seem very well mannered. But honestly, that's a little too much."

* * *

The next day, early morning, Noel is peacefully asleep on the bed of her new apartment. However, her peaceful slumber is rudely interrupted by a hand repeatedly shaking her shoulder. She scrambles herself to sit up on the bed. Once her vision became clear, she looks up at Makoto who was apparently the one who shook her awake. "Can I help you with something?" Noel yawns afterwards because she was still half awake.

Makoto sighs. "You're a heavy sleeper, you know that? Come on! Just because you don't go to our school, yet doesn't mean you can just slack off! You need to apply at the exam hall to have an entrance exam!"

Noel's eyes popped. "Oh my gosh, why didn't you tell me that?"

Makoto's eyes became half shut. "We both did last night. Don't tell me you forgot."

Noel's face became slightly red. Now she remembers. "Oops...ha...ha..."

Makoto giggles. "Yeah...it's a bit hard to remember considering on how you only had just came here. Well...I can't blame you."

Noel nods. "Well...thanks anyway for waking me up, um...I'm sorry. What was your name again?"

Makoto places a hand on her chest. "I'm Makoto. The red haired girl is Tsubaki."

Noel looks around the bedroom for a sign of Tsubaki but none. "Um...where exactly is Tsubaki?"

Makoto looks out the door to the bedroom that was opened. "She's already at school. She's a member of the Student Council; she's one of those students who is needed extra early and crap like that."

Noel covers her mouth with a single hand out of bewilderment. "Wow! She...seems to be dedicated to her work..."

Makoto nods in agreement. "Oh, you got that right. She's a no-nonsense girl, that's for sure. Anyway, let's get that slim ass out of bed and get ready!" Makoto grabs Noel's hand and drags her out of bed.

Noel's face flushed red even further as she felt herself being dragged. "H-Hey! Wait!"

* * *

Well, as always, thanks for reading and stick around for Rebel two if you're interested!

**Rebel One: End**


	2. Pleasant Beginnings

Random quote: "Always change your car oil at the recommended times!"

Hello, everybody! SevilResoleon here and welcome to Rebel Two!

I'd like to say that once again this series intertwines with Life's Stimulant. You don't have to follow both if you don't want to but if you want to fully understand the story then you have to. But, do whatever floats your boat.

Enjoy!

Big hugs for Ezio-FMAssassin and VesperianElemental for pointing out my errors!

* * *

**Rebel Two: Pleasant Beginnings**

Noel is struggling to do some sit ups. Makoto is hustling her every second to do the exercise. Noel groans and collapses on her back. "Is this...how you...wake up, Makoto?" Noel said in breaks of breath.

Makoto claps her hands out of encouragement. "Yes, I do! You don't have time to be tired during the day! High school is some serious shit, sister! Now, flip yourself over and give me twenty pushups!"

Noel groans again. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Noel is pushing a sofa back into place.

Meanwhile Makoto was at the side singing. "Noel's in a pile of shit. Doo-dah! Doo-dah! Noel's in a pile of shit all day to hell!"

* * *

Noel is aggressively brush her teeth with Makoto yelling at her again. "Come on, fight that plaque! Fight that plaque! Beautiful girls don't have plaque!"

* * *

Finally, the exercise was done. Noel didn't have a uniform on so she had a standard blue skirt with a shirt of a panda on it. She was breathing heavily yet she was wide awake and ready for the day. Somehow, that living hell of an exercise routine worked. "Alright, Makoto...can we please go to the school, already?"

Makoto nods. "You snatched my words, girlfriend! Let's go!"

Makoto opens the door and grabs Noel's hand to start dragging her to walk at Makoto's speed. Noel groaned. "Come on, not again!"

* * *

Makoto and Noel were at the entrance to the school. They were about to enter inside. Makoto turns to Noel in interrogate her. "Okay, new girl, we have to make sure that you didn't forget anything. You got your identification, right?"

Noel nods as she flashes it.

Makoto claps once. "Good! All you need to do is show that to the receptionist in the exam hall and you should be good to take the entrance exam. Of course, you don't know your way there so I'm going to have to take you there. Don't worry, you won't be dragged this time." Makoto laughs at that last statement she made.

Noel rolls her eyes as she's led inside by Makoto. As they started to walk in the hallways, Makoto glances over with her eyes on her new roommate. She knew that this girl is very nice and she could get along pretty well with her. She decides to play a game of ice breaker with Noel. "So, do you have any sisters or brothers?"

Noel nods no. "I don't have any siblings although sometimes, I have dreams about being a younger sibling to an older brother. It often reoccurs so...maybe it's a desire to have a sibling? It does get lonely being the only child. Also...my parents were divorced. I lived with my mother. About when I was seven, I heard that my father died."

Makoto's eyes started to become darker. "I'm so sorry for you, Noel. You've must have had a hard life."

Noel nods in agreement. She started to feel comfortable in talking with Makoto so she continued. "I'm not the smartest girl you might find around here but at least I can be a good friend if you give me a chance."

Makoto puffs air out of her nose. "Let me tell you, you're smarter than most of the girls here, already."

Noel turns her head toward Makoto. "Really?"

Makoto shook her head. "Yes! You have no idea how much shit these girls give me just because I have this tail. It's such an annoying thing, if you ask me. Also, when they get a boyfriend, they become instantly popular or some crap like that. The couple gets followed around and the couple often kisses and shit like that. God, it's terrible, trust me."

Noel was a bit...stunned. "Wow..." Noel started to feel her vision go fuzzy. She starts to go on a mental soliloquy. The voice of Makoto ranting started to fade as she started. _"I transferred over here. That's right. My mother said it was the best high school she could find. I won't waste her opportunity she has given me. But still...why do I feel like...there's somebody who I'm supposed to meet? And that dream just makes things even more bizarre. Oh...what's the difference? It's not like thinking about it is going to get me anywhere. Right now, I just have to focus on making my way with Makoto to the exam hall." _

Noel stops almost immediately when she starts to regain focus of her vision and awareness of her surroundings. She looks around frantically for her beastkin friend. "Makoto? Makoto, where are you? If you're hiding, this isn't funny!"

Noel looks around the hall she was in frantically for her friend. All around her, she could see closed lockers. It almost felt like a haunting graveyard. She gulps as her knees start to knock against each other.

"Hey you..." A gruff, male voice sounded.

Noel whips her head around to see a boy with spikey hair and a school uniform on. He doesn't look too happy. She must have intruded in his hall or something like that. "Um...hi...c-can I help you with something?" Noel was trying to be nice and not get into a fight here.

Noel looks at the tall boy again to see that he's giving her a scared look. Noel wasn't scary. Was it the shirt? _"I'm not scary, am I? Is it...my breath?" _Noel observes the boy's face even further to see that he was going slightly pale. "Um, you don't look so good, sir. Do you think you maybe need to go to the infirmary?"

The boy shakes his head back and forth a few times. "Um...uh...I'm the one who should be asking you that question! I've been watching you pace the floor all over the place. Where's your uniform? Do you go to school here?"

Noel looks down. No, she isn't. She was going to find the exam hall but she got lost. Maybe she could nicely ask this boy to guide her there. "Well...no...I'm trying to find the exam hall, to tell you the truth. Well, actually the truth is that I came here with a friend but I had a little daydream and well...I got lost..." Noel giggled so she could present herself friendly and perhaps hide her nervousness.

The boy raised both of his eyebrows. "Well, I got some time to kill. I guess I can help you out. It is a big building, though."

Noel's emerald eyes lit and she gave a respectable bow. "Um, thank you, sir! I appreciate this!"

The boy sighed heavily. "It's okay. It's not a problem. Also, you don't need to do all the formal sh...stuff. Anyway, let's go...

An awkward silence hovered on the way to the exam hall. Noel's thinking to herself on how she could let her airheaded personally get the best of her. She was lucky enough to meet this boy or she would have had an adventure, one that she could easily regret. She was also relieved that this boy was nice enough to guide her to the exam hall. Noel isn't very good in talking to boys.

* * *

When they arrived at the exam hall, Noel sees the boy open the door for her. The boy clears his throat. "Well, here we are. Whoever is your friend, I hope he or she will...I don't know...realize you're here?"

Noel bows again. "Thank you, sir! I truly appreciate this!"

The boy sighs again. "Again, that whole routine is not needed. Are you going to be okay by yourself, now?"

Noel figured that Makoto would be here shortly. "I...think so." Noel felt herself being pushed inside by the boy. Before she could fully turn around, the boy was long gone. Noel sighs.

"Excuse me, can I help you with something?" A woman's voice sounded.

Noel walks to the reception desk. "Yes." Noel gives her identity card to the woman. "My name is Noel Vermillion. I'm here to apply for an entrance exam. I recently transferred over here."

The woman typed on the computer for a few seconds. She smiled at Noel as she gave her card back. "Well, here you are! You're all set! Just be back over here by seven-thirty, tomorrow morning. Get a good night's sleep and study well!"

Noel bows once more. "Thank you, ma'am!"

Noel turns around to head for the door on the way to the door, she twitches and her eyes popped. _"Oh, no! I forgot to ask that boy his name!" _

* * *

This is one of those times when the two Fanfictions intertwined. I hope that gives a good example on how it works.

As always, thanks for reading and Rebel Three will be on its way soon!

**Rebel Two: End**


	3. Tension

Hello, everybody! After three consecutive chapters of Life's Stimulant, I think it was time to get back to New Leaf.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Rebel Three: Tension**

Noel is standing outside the door to the exam hall. She gives a sigh to herself. _"I didn't get to know that boy's name. At least he was nice enough to guide me to the exam." _

"NOEL!" A girl's voice boomed.

Noel yelped as she turns in the direction of the voice. It was Makoto looking very angry and red. Makoto gives Noel a light shove. "You bitch! How the hell did you find your way here? You got lost and I realized it too late! I've been looking for you all over the place!"

Noel looks down on the floor. "I'm sorry but...I got lost in a daydream and that's how I got lost for real...ha..." Noel flashes a smile.

Makoto shakes her head back and forth. "Come on, Noel. It's not funny. Seriously, how did you get here?"

Noel makes a mental decision that she should just tell the truth. "Well...a boy was nice enough to guide the way here to the exam hall. Ha, ha, ha...he was nice...a bit grumpy but nice..."

Makoto suddenly smiles. "Aw...that's good. Some of the boys here are rough but there are some nice boys. I'm just curious. What did he look like?"

Noel thinks hard to recall his features. "Well...he had white hair...and was pretty tall and...that's about it..." Noel said, not being able to recall any further.

Makoto scratches her chin a few times. "Hmm...there are quite a few boys here with white hair...well...never mind. It's nice that you were still able to apply for the exam."

Tsubaki arrives at their location. "Greetings, friends!"

Makoto turns around to see Tsubaki. "Hello, Tsubaki! Noel here is all set for the exam!"

Tsubaki gives a smile. "That's nice! If you study well today, the entrance exam shouldn't be much of a problem. Also, you have to get a good night's sleep, too!"

Noel raised her hand slightly to signal that she wants to speak. "Um...since this is the only thing I have to do during the day, what exactly can I do?"

Tsubaki thinks for a second. Then, she gets an idea. "Um...can you cook?"

Noel's eyes radiate. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I can. I just love cooking so much but I'm not the best chief there is in the world."

Makoto smiles toward Noel. "Well, nobody is perfect. As long as it tastes good in my opinion, it should be fine!"

Tsubaki gazes at her watch briefly. "It's a half hour until school starts. Makoto, we've wasted too much time just chatting here. Noel needs to get back to our apartment."

Makoto's eyes radiate and an insidious smile curls on her face. "You got, it Tsubaki! Don't worry! I'll make sure our slim friend here gets her ass back into the apartment!"

Makoto grabs Noel's hand and starts dragging her to run at Makoto's speed. Noel shrieks again. "Ah, I can't believe we're going through this routine three times in a row! What the heck is with you, Makoto?"

* * *

By the time they were back in their apartment, Noel was extremely tuckered out. Makoto opens the door for her. Noel weakly makes her way through the door.

Makoto stayed outside the apartment room. "Okay, Noel. I'll be back at around three."

Noel tilted her head slightly. "What? What about Tsubaki?"

Makoto chuckles a bit. "Oh. Tsubaki is a member of the Student Council in ours school. She has to stay along with the president of it in order to supervise the action. Tsubaki is going to have to work double time because a lot of people were lazy yesterday."

Noel's head slowly moved up and down. "I'm sorry to hear that. I hope Tsubaki has a better day today."

"Yeah...well, I have to get back to school. There should be plenty of snacks around for you. Feel free to eat them if you get hungry. Good bye!" Makoto closes the door shut.

Noel stretches herself out. "Alright! It's time to go get some studying done and-AH!"

Noel feels something pulling her to the wall. Noel turns that way to see nothing there. However, in a flash, the apparent force that was pulling her was gone. _"Wh...what was that? It feel like...someone tapped my shoulder..." _

Noel slowly looks around the room to make sure that there's nothing abnormal in sight. Everything looked natural. Eventually, a yawn distracts Noel from it. "Well...it must have been a muscle spasm. I must still be tired. I guess I can afford to nap for a few hours."

* * *

Thanks for reading and I love owls.

**Rebel Three: End**


	4. Crunch Time

What does this word mean? Omnipresent. The answer will be revealed in the author's notes at the bottom. :)

* * *

**Rebel Four: Crunch Time  
**

_"I don't understand! Why do I have to take the punishment when I didn't do anything?"_

_"You behave...or there'll be no desert tonight for you, sunshine! Tell it to the judge once you get a say in court!"_

_"For the last time, I didn't have anything to do with it!" _

* * *

Noel sits up on her bed, hyperventilating. She looks up at the clock to see that it was one thirty in the afternoon._ "What was that...? It felt like...something that happened in my life already but...it doesn't feel like I've really done it." _

Noel lies back on her bed so that she could catch her breath. Her brain electrified her to remember something. She sits up on her bed once again. "Oh! That's right! I have to make lunch for Makoto and Tsubaki!"

* * *

About a quarter of an hour after three, Makoto and Tsubaki were in the apartment. Noel, from the kitchen smiles because she had just got done setting the table. "Hello! I just finished making lunch for you!"

Makoto enthusiastically sprints into the kitchen. "Man, I'm so hungry, I could eat a-" Makoto looks at what was at the center of the table. This...thing looks like it could be eaten but it also looks like it could eat a person's stomach if digested. Makoto steps back from the table a few times. "Uh...maybe just a glass of water will do..."

Noel spots Tsubaki. "Tsubaki! Makoto told me you were going to stay for Student Council. What's up?"

Tsubaki chuckles. "The president of the council let me have the day off so that I can tutor you for the exam tomorrow."

Noel's face turns a bit red. "Oh...that's rather nice of him..."

Tsubaki steps to the same area as Makoto. "What's wrong, Makoto? I thought you were hungry?"

Makoto said nothing but pointed at the object that is to be eaten. Tsubaki then caught on and soon her brain ran through the same thought process as Makoto's did when she saw what was to be consumed. "Um...yeah...I think I'll skip out on lunch for now."

Noel's pupils shrunk. "Excuse me? Um...I thought you asked me to prepare lunch for you since I'm not doing anything but studying. Also, it's not going to taste good once it's cold."

Makoto reluctantly makes her way to her seat at the dining table. Tsubaki soon follows. Noel does the courtesy of serving them their..."lunch".

Makoto takes a deep breath. "Well...I guess it can't hurt. First time for everything, I guess. Tsubaki, on three we eat it at the same time."

Tsubaki nods. Both of them take a deep breath as they take a spoonful of their "lunch".

Makoto gulps. "Ready? One...two...three!"

Both Makoto and Tsubaki consume the spoonful.

Noel puts her hands together nervously. "So? What do you think?"

Makoto and Tsubaki gave their answer by sprinting over to the bathroom. The sound of explosive vomiting could be heard from Noel's ears. Noel's eyes started to yield tears.

Tsubaki and Makoto slowly exeunt the bathroom. Tsubaki forces a smile. "Don't you think it was nice for Noel to make us lunch?"

Makoto sighs. "Even though the girl has no clue how to cook..."

Tsubaki elbows Makoto to signal to her to look over at Noel to see that she was crying profusely. Makoto bear hugs Noel and plants a kiss on her cheek. "Come on, Noel! You were nice enough to make it but it's so god awful!"

Noel sniffles a few times. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to be helpful."

Tsubaki sighs. "It's okay. You didn't mean it. I'll just have to order takeout."

* * *

About half an hour later, the mess is cleaned up. Noel is taking a break from studying by watching a cartoon on TV. Makoto catches a glimpse of the cartoon. "Is that the Powerpuff Girls?"

Noel looks over at Makoto. "Yes. It's such an amazing show!"

Makoto shakes her head a few times and sighs. "Well...in my opinion, it's not my idea for an amazing show. But, I'm glad to see that you like it at least."

Noel looks more closely at Makoto to see that she is in her outside clothes. "Are you going somewhere, Makoto?"

"Yeah...I have a job. I work at a manga bookstore. It's usually how we get the money to pay off the rent. I work with a good friend of mine there."

An eyebrow rose from Noel. "Oh? If you don't mind me asking, who is he...or she?"

Makoto giggles. "Well first of all, he's a guy. Second, his name is Ragna. I'd love to tell you more about him but I really have to get going. I'll see you later, Noel."

Noel waves lightly to Makoto. "I'll see you, then!"

Makoto exits.

* * *

About later into the night, Tsubaki had just got done tutoring Noel. Tsubaki shuts the last book. "Well, that's all you need to know, Noel. Are you all set?"

Noel nods. _"Argh...my brain...it hurts." _

Tsubaki gazes over at the clock. "Well, I'm pretty sure that you have to go to sleep now. I'll let you go. Good night, Noel!"

Noel nods and slowly makes her way to the room. On her way there, Makoto bursts in through the door. "Whee! It's our lucky day, girls!"

Tsubaki and Noel gazes curiously at Makoto.

Makoto reveals two paychecks. Tsubaki gasps. "Makoto! Are you sure you didn't just steal that?"

Makoto laughs. "You wish! Some unlucky fool got fired for knocking down the bookshelf. Ragna and I restored the bookshelf and our boss decided to split his paycheck between us!"

Tsubaki sighs. "Wow...it must have been a fortunate day for you and him. That's nice. Congratulations. Now we have some spending money to ourselves. Of course, we have-"

Makoto brushes off Tsubaki. "I know, I know. Spend wisely and all that crap. Blah, blah, blah... Oh, by the way, you should have seen Ragna today. From the outside, I heard him screaming like an old lady, in a library!"

Noel gasps. "What happened to him?"

Makoto laughs. "His yandere friend wouldn't stop prank calling him. Ha, ha, ha!"

Tsubaki and Noel started to giggle along with Makoto. Noel started to become curious of Ragna. "Um...this Ragna sounds like an interesting person. What's he like?"

Makoto giggles. "Ooh...you're curious aren't you? Well...he's an interesting guy to say the least. He can be a bit gruff but he's nice at the same time. I was telling him about you as a matter of fact. He said that he thinks you could be a nice girl to talk to."

Noel's face flushed. "Oh...um...I have a confession to make. I'm not really experienced talking to boys. Do you think maybe during the weekend I can meet him?"

Makoto's eyes flashed. "Good choice, Noel!"

Tsubaki sighs. "I personally think that he can be a bit too rough and ignorant sometimes. However, he proves that he does care for his friends. I think you'll have somewhat of a good time with him."

Later that night, Noel is tossing and turning while asleep in bed. She appeared to be uncomfortable with the dream she was having.

* * *

"_Are you hurt?" _

"_Who are you?" _

"_Don't worry. I know you didn't do it. You were framed." _

* * *

Omnipresent: Present everywhere at the present time. I love using this word!

As always, thanks for reading!

**Rebel Four: End**


	5. Test Anxiety

Hello, everybody! SevilResoleon here!

So my good friend VesperianElemental kindly requested me to make more New Leaf.

My reply? You want more New Leaf? I give you more New Leaf. :D

Enjoy!

* * *

**Rebel Five: Test Anxiety**

"_You shitheads are directly responsible for the hell I've been through all these years!"_

"_Listen to me! Just tell me what you want to know!" _

"_You know what I want to know..." _

* * *

Noel shrieks as she jolts out of bed, standing up. Her shrieking snowballs, waking up both Tsubaki and Makoto at the same time. Tsubaki turns on the light to the room and leers at Noel. "Are you okay, Noel?"

Noel gulps once. "No...I just had a nightmare! I...I...I..." Noel whines childishly to substitute for the lack of words.

Makoto gets up out of her bed and places a hand on Noel's shoulder. "Shh...it's just a nightmare, like you said. These things happen once in a while. Ah! I know! You're having test anxiety, aren't you?"

That sort of made sense to Noel; the invisible pull, the dreams, they all happened since she first moved in. Noel gasps. "Ah! Yes, that's it! I'm terrified! I...need a glass of water."

Makoto taps her shoulder a few times. "There, there. The entrance exam isn't that bad. When I took it, I was nervous as hell. But I've stuck to my guns and passed it!"

Tsubaki shook her head a few times. "First of all, Makoto, you just barely passed. Second, you were close to failing by two questions."

Makoto leers at Tsubaki. "Hey! I'm trying to comfort a friend here! Stop being so...I can't think of the word!" Makoto whined.

"Pessimistic?" Tsubaki guessed in an attempt to finish for Makoto.

Makoto snaps her fingers. "Yep, that's it!" Makoto looks over at the clock to see that it was half an hour after four in the morning. "Oh, you know what? It's almost time for us to get up for school, anyway! Let's take advantage and get a head start!"

Tsubaki smiles. "Good idea, Makoto." Tsubaki's look turned to Noel who is fidgeting with her fingers. "It's okay, Noel. I'll give you a review once you've had breakfast. Is that okay with you?"

Noel could only nod in response. _"I wish it were just test anxiety. These dreams have been happening nonstop. I don't know if I can take much more of this... Hopefully, this is just a psychological episode of some kind that'll just blow over..." _

* * *

It is six sharp in the morning. Tsubaki has already gone to school ahead of Makoto and Noel. Makoto is giving Noel a shoulder massage to comfort her. "So...are you feeling okay? Is my massage helping in anyway?"

"Mmm..." Noel could only say while mesmerized in the comfort of it.

Makoto looks at the clock. She ceases her massaging. "Okay...I think that's enough. We have to get going so they have time to get you ready."

Noel nodded once more to give her consent. _"What's happening...?" _Noel felt something echoing in her head.

"_It hurts..." _

Noel looks around. "Huh?"

"_It hurts! Somebody save me!" _

Noel shrieks again. Makoto shrieks herself. "Will you quit rehearsing your scream so we can get going?"

Noel gulps. "I'm sorry! Let's just go..."

* * *

It was strangely silent the whole way there. Why was it strange to have the walk so silent? Because Makoto is usually just chatting. Makoto silently led Noel inside the school.

Finally, as they were walking, the silence was broken by a question asked my Makoto. "What's going on with you, Noel?"

Noel turns to Makoto. "Huh?"

Makoto sighs. "I think it's more than test anxiety. Do you have any mental issues or did you had any in the past?"

Noel shook her head rapidly. "No, I didn't! I...I never had anything like this before! I guess...I'm having this because things just happened so fast, don't you think?"

Makoto scratches the bottom of her chin a few times. "Yeah...I guess you're right. But I do hope you're right in that this is just an episode. I don't want you killing me or Tsubaki just because you've gone crazy in the head like a psycho bitch."

Noel's eyes widened. "No! I'm not going to do that!"

Makoto looked ahead. "I know. I'm just saying, though. There were a few incidents like this before. I hope that doesn't happen to me or Tsubaki. I mean don't get me wrong. It's not like I don't trust you but you have to tell me or Tsubaki if anything is wrong before it's too late."

Noel nods. _"I wish I could tell them but...I have a feeling that they won't believe me. I trust them also but...I don't think I can just straight up tell them. If this goes on for a few more days, then I'll tell them for sure." _

Before Noel knew it, they were at the exam hall.

Makoto grabs both Noel's shoulders with both hands. "Okay, Noel! Are you ready to tackle this thing?"

Noel gives a fist pump. "Yes!"

Makoto nods once. "Good! You're going to do fine. I know it. It's a little bit early so you can just chill inside the lobby for a few minutes just to do another mental review. Nature calls! I'll be back!" Makoto walks into the girl's bathroom.

Noel is just about to step inside the lobby until a girl's shriek got her attention.

"What's that guy doing over here?" A girl asked.

Noel turns to her left see a boy running at full speed down the hallway. Since he's only running in one direction, Noel is able to get a good look at him. Noel gasps because she immediately recalled that it's the same boy that helped her out the day before. _"It's that boy again! What is he doing here?" _

Noel observes him further to see him running into the boy's bathroom. Noel's eyes became half-opened as a single sweat drop drips down her face out of bewilderment. _"When you gotta go, you gotta go, I guess..." _

Noel looks straight ahead to see Makoto coming out of the girl's bathroom. Makoto goes back to Noel's side. "What the hell was that? I heard a girl scream. What's up with you? Your face is red."

Noel stutters a few times before speaking. "I just saw the same boy that helped me yesterday!"

Makoto laughs sarcastically. "Okay, Noel. Now is not the time to be thinking about boys. It is test time!"

Makoto drags Noel inside the exam hall much to her dismay.

* * *

Just to reiterate, if you want to have a full understanding of the story, you have to read Life's Stimulant as well.

Thank you for reading! I love writing about this series and I hope you're loving the adventure!

**Rebel Five: End**


	6. Sublimity

Posting this on the day I turn a new age doesn't make the story any more special. :)

Just so you know, the Drama genre is more emphasized with New Leaf and the Humor genre is more emphasized in Life's Stimulant.

I'm pretty sure that you knew that.

People speaking over the phone have their text **Bolded.**

Also, to answer Accentcore8's question, snowball means that it has an effect that references to how a snowball gets bigger as it rolls down a mountain of snow.

* * *

**Rebel Six: Sublimity**

It is the time when the students are dismissed from school. Noel had just exited the exam hall. Her face was pale from the mental exhaustion of the entrance exam. Right on cue, her two friends Makoto and Tsubaki came to see her.

Makoto runs up to breathing room with Noel. "Well? Well? Well? How did it go?"

Noel takes a deep breath. "That took forever...I thought I wasn't going to make it but I did!"

Tsubaki blinks a few times while having a stern. "How were the questions? Were they hard?"

Noel thinks for about two seconds. "Well...some of them were but a lot of them weren't as bad as I thought."

Makoto gives a boastful laughter. "See? I told you it wasn't going to be as bad as you thought! I'm sure you passed!"

Tsubaki shakes her head in disapproval. "Makoto, will you stop being so cocky about everything? She just got done the exam!"

Makoto sighs and wraps an arm around Tsubaki's neck. "Yes, Noel had just got the exam done but you have to remember to think positive! It's no fun to just be serious about everything all the time!"

Tsubaki sighs. "Oh, Makoto..." Tsubaki looks up at the clock. "Well...thankfully it's Friday. I have Student Council all week usually and yes, that includes Fridays. I'll see you two at the apartment." Tsubaki starts to walk away.

Makoto and Noel wave at Tsubaki as she walks away.

* * *

Noel and Makoto are now on the walk home. Noel is just telling Makoto about the boy she saw again before taking the exam.

Makoto scratches her chin. "So...you looked to your left and the same boy who helped you out yesterday ran straight into the bathroom?"

Noel nods. "I don't know what the heck was up with him. He just...ran...like that. Then I said in my head, 'When you have to go, you have to go, I guess...' So yeah...that's what happened. Then you came along and dragged me into the exam hall."

Makoto laughs nervously. "Sorry about that. Anyway, it sounds like this boy is a little bit shy. Do you want me to get him to talk to you?"

Noel sighs. "No, you don't have to do that but I just found it odd to say the least. Oh! Makoto!"

Makoto raised an eyebrow toward Noel. "Yes, Noel?"

Noel's face started to flash red for a second. "Um...that boy Ragna...you said you would call him. Do you think maybe I could talk with him using your phone?"

Makoto laughs insidiously. "Wow! I don't think I've seen you this enthusiastic about meeting a boy as you are with taking an exam! Of course, I will! But I'll let you do it...on one condition."

Noel gulped. She knew this couldn't be good. "What's that?"

Makoto spoke very rapidly. "Run with me the rest of the way home." With that being said, she grabs Noel's arm and starts dragging her while running in full speed.

Noel screamed. "Why are we always running?"

* * *

When they got back, Noel immediately slouched herself on the couch. Makoto on the other hand just casually stretched herself out. "I'll call him now. Would you like me to hand the phone to you when you're ready?"

Noel was too out of breath to say anything. She nodded instead. To her, it felt nice to get the entrance exam out of the way. Now, she can look forward to having fun meeting a boy named Ragna. For some reason, she felt excited meet him. _"Maybe he's the one who I feel like I have to meet..." _

Noel then felt a little bit suspicious about something. _"I haven't had any of those dreams and feelings yet...what's going on? I was expecting those all day...but they never came. I guess I'm getting better already..." _

Noel is feeling a bit better so she decided to sit up on the couch. _"Those dreams...it feels like I'm really there but...I'm not. I may be crazy but...I want to have one of these dreams again. I really don't know why but I do." _

Makoto goes back into the living room with her IPhone in her ear. "Yep! She's right here! She would like to talk to you!"

Noel turns to Makoto with the IPhone. Makoto smiles at Noel. "Noel, you're about to talk to Ragna." She hands it to Noel so that she could talk to Ragna.

Noel gulps once. "Hello?"

**"Hey..."**

"Um...hi. You're Ragna, right?" Noel was a bit nervous. She wasn't the most experienced with talking to boys.

**"Last time I checked, I was. Makoto told me about you. You sound like a nice girl. You're Noel Vermillion, her new roommate, are you not?"**

Noel gulped. "Yes, that's me...and yeah...Makoto said that you could be...grumpy sometimes but you are a nice person, also..."

Ragna's chuckle could be heard from the phone. **"Yeah...I'm sometimes a jerk but that's because I'm blunt about things. So yeah, Makoto said you wanted to ask me something. What was it?"**

Noel musters up her courage again. "I...I...I...I was just...hoping you want to meet up, soon. That's all..." Noel hoped that she didn't say the wrong thing by accident. She waits for the answer.

**"Sure, why not? I have time to kill this weekend."**

Noel smiled almost immediately. "YES!"

**"Okay...I'll come pick you up tomorrow afternoon. Would you like that?"**

Noel felt her eyes radiating with excitement. "Yes, very much so and um...sorry for the trouble..."

**"Hmm? You didn't do anything. Well anyway, I'll see you tomorrow then. It was nice talking to you...Noel, was it?"**

Noel nods. "Yep, you got it. I'll meet you tomorrow, Ragna! I'm looking forward to meeting you!"

**"Bye!"**

Noel hangs up on the phone. She hands it back to Makoto. "Thank you very much, Makoto! I really appreciate this."

Makoto giggles. "No problem, Noel. By the way, you should have seen the look on your face a few times when you were talking to Ragna. I thought you were gonna hurl a few times. Ha, ha, ha!"

Noel groans. "Come on, Makoto, I-"

Noel's vision starts to become negative filtering. Through her eyes, not only were they in that coloring but everything was frozen. A sound of a pendulum on a clock echoed a few times while some indecipherable voices ran through her head.

However, there were a few voices that were decipherable to her.

"_Please, just let me out! I'll do anything, anything! Anything!" _

"_Now, now...you're right where you belong, you wrench. You deserve your punishment fair and square for doing what you did so just accept it! You brought it upon yourself! You have no one to blame but you!" _

"_How many times do I have to tell you? I didn't do a damn thing!" _

"_Why does the world hate me...?" _

"_That girl must be killed!" _

"_I just need you to answer some questions." _

"_I'm going to find her. Perhaps she has the answers I seek." _

"_Just...kill me now..." _

"_You're probably the first girl who I felt this way about..." _

* * *

Well...I hope you enjoyed that. It's becoming more of a mystery, isn't it?

Stay updated for the seventh Rebel!

**Rebel Six: End**


	7. Messenger

Okay...it's time to get to the bottom of all these dreams.

Thank you to everyone who correct me on my errors so far! :D

* * *

**Rebel Seven: Messenger **

Noel's eyes opened slowly. Noel felt like she was lying across, backward. As her view began to take shape, the surroundings came into view. She was barely conscious but slowly, she had begun to grasp that reality was not the way as she saw it right now but it was. Through her eyes, she could barely see anything but a void of purple smoke.

"Where...is...this?"

Noel slowly stood up and looked around. The ground she was standing on was completely transparent. As if it were the infinitely expanding universe itself, the void of purple expanded freely, as if no obstacle was there. Immediately, she was struck with fear.

"Where...is this?" Noel asked again, this time out loud.

It didn't seem like her question was going to be answered sometime soon. Slowly, she began to walk. As she was walking, her view of the void did not change, as if she were walking in place. Noel was almost certain that she was walking forward. Noel's heart started to pound and felt even more afraid. She began to accelerate her pace into the void and nothing about the void in her perspective changed at all.

"Is anyone there?" Noel asked full of fear.

It didn't make any sense, whatsoever. Why wasn't anything about this place changing? Where did everyone she knew went? How did she end up in here? Where was she? What kind of place was this? This entire list of questions she just wanted to ask but she knew that there would be nobody to greet her...

"How is this even not a dream? Am I...dead...?"

"N...ke...ki..."

"Huh?"

It was so quiet, that it was easy to hear voices that weren't really there but this was so faint, it seemed to be half real and half fake. Noel was too curious to be stricken with fear from the voice. In fact, she sense some...familiarity from it. She continued to walk in the direction she was, hoping to hear that voice again at one point. Again, it came...

"No...el..."

Noel gasped. "It knows my name? Why does it sound so familiar?"

* * *

After nearly an eternity of walking, Noel stopped in her tracks to catch her breath. She fell to what might be the ground as her legs were so tired from walking for what seemed to be an hour. As she was catching her breath, she could see a spec in the distance through the purple fog. This pushed her to start walking again. Noel got up and started to run toward the spec. Her view of the spec gradually morphed into a human being. She felt a ton of relief from this and was hopeful she could have answers to her current predicament.

Eventually, Noel stopped moving as soon as she was close enough to the human figure. To her view, she could only see that it was a girl and her cloak was concealing her entire back. Noel could also see that she was wearing thigh high stockings. Her hair was blond and she had something on her head that represented horns.

"Who...are...you?" Noel slowly said to the girl.

The girl turns around to Noel and immediately, the relief that Noel had turned into anxiety and fear again. She couldn't believe her eyes. Her face was the same as Noel's. Her hair was the exact color and texture as Noel's. Her physiology was even identical to Noel.

"Please...answer my question..." Noel said with anxiety.

The girl certainly took her time in answering Noel's question. "You can't expect me to answer your question. You've finally became close enough to contact you."

Something then snapped inside Noel's head. "Wait! So...all those times when I felt like someone was watching me...that was you?"

The girl only nodded in response. "I'm sorry if it felt like you had a stalker but I couldn't find any other way to contact through to you besides my telepathy."

Slowly but surely, it all made sense to Noel. All those times when she could see from someone's point of view, that must have from this girl contacting her. "What about all those times when I heard voices in my head?"

The girl paused before answering. "While I was trying to contact you, you've must have caught a few glimpses of my memories or foresights. It's...rather embarrassing, if you ask me but the main reason why you're comatose in real life is because I've established full contact with you."

Noel said nothing, which signaled the girl to continue.

The girl did so. "So...the main reason why I've contacted you is about the boy named Ragna."

Noel gasps. "How do you know about-"

The girl raised her voice to interrupt Noel. "Time is short between us; you have to listen to me! Now listen...he's in trouble and only you can save him. You have to meet up with him no matter what. No matter what other people say, you have to meet Ragna."

Noel forced out a question of her own. "Wait! I've never met Ragna before! Why are you saying a boy I've never met before needs my help?"

The girl stared into Noel's eyes. "...You did meet him once before..." The girl starts to clutch her head. Soon, she falls to the ground.

Noel runs up to the girl and begins to comfort her. "Hey! Are you okay?"

The girl nods. "I'm...losing contact. My time with you is fading. Remember...you have to meet Ragna. You and he need each other..."

Noel only nodded. She knew that this girl was serious. She makes a silent vow to herself that she's going to meet Ragna, no matter what. "Don't worry...I'll do it. You don't have to worry about me."

The girl smiled up at Noel. "Thank you..." About a second later, the girl starts to fade from existence. "When I fade away completely, you'll see an opening of white light behind you. That's your way to wake up. You should do so as soon as you can. Your friends are really worried about you."

Out of nowhere, tears start to fall from Noel. "I...I'll do it...and...thank you for telling me this..."

Once the girl completely fades away, the opening appears behind Noel. She starts to walk toward it once she wipes the tears from her face. _"Why does it feel like I know her?"_

* * *

Don't worry! This is the real rebel seven! XD

**Rebel Seven: End**


	8. Pinkie Swear

Hello, everybody! It's time to find out how Noel is going to handle going back to reality.

* * *

**Rebel Eight: Pinkie Swear **

It's the late hours of night. Makoto is anxiously twiddling her thumbs, just waiting for Noel's body to animate. Tsubaki had just entered the room. Tsubaki stares grimly at Noel's body. "I'm really starting to get worried."

Makoto glares at Tsubaki. "No shit, Sherlock! She's been out cold since we came back! That's over six hours!"

Tsubaki looks into Makoto's glare towards her. Makoto had not moved from that spot since she came back. Tsubaki looks at Noel's unconscious body before reciting her next sentence. "Do you really think...that there's something that Noel isn't telling us?"

Makoto stayed silent, signaling Tsubaki to continue. "I'm starting to think...this is something more than just stress. If this keeps up until tomorrow morning, we have to take her to the hospital."

Makoto growls at Tsubaki. "We should have had taken her to the hospital when you came back!"

Tsubaki leers at Makoto. "Who was the one who suggested we wait a few more hours before Noel wakes up, hmm?"

Makoto and Tsubaki then hear a slight moan from Noel. They immediately glue their eyes to the blonde. They see Noel's eyes slowly open. "I'm...back..."

Makoto's eyes shined. "NOEL!" Makoto goes in very close to Noel at her bedside. She gently rubs her head. "It's okay...Makoto and Tsubaki are here."

Slowly, Noel starts to regain consciousness of her surroundings. She slowly sits up on her bed. "Makoto...Tsubaki..."

Tsubaki moves in closer to Noel's bed. "Listen, Noel...are you hiding something from us? These episodes have been going on too long."

Noel looks down on her sheets as she thinks to herself. _"Do I really tell them about the girl that I just met...?" _

Makoto wraps an arm around Noel's back. "Listen, Noel, you have to tell us what's wrong. Tsubaki is right; it's more than just stress for you to be out cold for almost all day."

Noel gulps. She would tell the truth but what they would hear might be some sort of fabricated story through their ears. But, they seem pretty insistent on her telling them what's going on. Noel takes a deep breath. "Okay...I'll tell you...it all started yesterday."

* * *

Tsubaki had a disturbed look on her face while Makoto's had a more dramatically shocked look. Needless to say, it seemed pretty unbelievable to them.

Makoto gulps. "So...what you're saying is that some chick who looks like you is trying to hijack your mind, trying to tell you to meet up with Ragna? That's why you've been having those dreams lately and passing the hell out?"

Noel looks down on her sheets again. "That pretty much sums it all up. I'm sorry for not telling you before but I thought that you guys would think that I'm touched in the head or something. If you don't believe me, I don't blame you..."

Tsubaki sighs. "I believe you, Noel."

Noel looks up at Tsubaki. "What?"

Tsubaki explained herself. "I mean...yeah...it seems like an unbelievable story. But it doesn't seem like you're lying right now. Also, you're a pretty nice girl to begin with who watches infant cartoons." Makoto giggles on that statement. Tsubaki clears her throat. "Anyway, what I'm saying is that...I'll believe you for now. What's your take, Makoto?"

Makoto gives thumbs up. "Same with Tsubaki, Noel! I believe you, also! We'll make sure that you meet up with Ragna like the girl said in your dreams. But, if you start getting those feelings again, you have to tell us ASAP. Deal?"

Noel nods. "Deal! But...can we keep this a secret between us? I don't want him to think I'm crazy or something..."

Tsubaki sighs. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with us. We won't tell a soul.

Noel's eyes started to harbor tears. "Th-Thank you...everyone...I really appreciate this..." The tears started to flow down Noel's face.

* * *

The next morning, Tsubaki is looking over her notes of the lesson yesterday while Makoto is on the phone. Noel, meanwhile is writing in her journal.

Makoto spoke into the phone. "Good morning, Ragna! Yeah...but she's a stubborn bitch behind that soft personality."

Noel knew that she was being talked about. Tsubaki's head rose from her notes. "Makoto!" They both yelled.

Makoto signaled to the both of them to be quiet. "Well...after she woke up, Noel said that it was incredibly important to meet you. We tried to convince her to put if off until Monday when she could just meet you in school but then she started crying."

A drop of sweat ran down Noel's forehead. _"Well...I did cry...but not for that reason." _

Makoto continued on with her phone conversation. "Honestly, I think she might have a crush on you despite the fact she hasn't met you before."

Noel's mouth dropped while Tsubaki laughed silently to herself.

Makoto gives off an outburst of laughter. "Yeah...I guess. So...we can do the meeting at Noon, the earliest, today, if you want to." A few moments pass. "Hold on..." Makoto detaches the phone from her ear. "What do you think, Tsubaki?"

Tsubaki's head tilted in one direction. "What is it?"

"Ragna wants to know if he could have his roommates and Jin over to introduce themselves to Noel along with himself."

Tsubaki smiled at that idea. "That's a grand idea! A meet and greet! Tell Ragna, I gave my consent!"

Noel giggles. "Tell Ragna I said I'd be happy to meet his roommates, also!"

Makoto goes back on the phone. "Okay! She's okay with it! Noel said that she could use this idea to meet your roommates, too! Bye, you dickhead!"

Noel became confused. "Why do you call each other such derogatory names?"

Makoto chuckles boastfully. "Once you get along with a person well...you can...'joke' with them that way."

Noel sighs. "I'll never understand how you get along with your friends, Makoto. So, what are his roommates like, also?"

Tsubaki took the liberty of describing Jin. "Jin is...a bit aloof. He can also be a bit strict but he's a nice person behind that exterior. He's also Ragna's brother."

Makoto then finishes for Tsubaki. "Lambda and Nu are their roommates. They're sisters. Lambda is usually very calm about stuff. It creeps me out a bit. Nu, however is head over heels with Ragna. If you ask me, you could have a little bit of competition over his attention."

Noel's face flushed. "Hey! I-!"

Makoto laughs. "I'm kidding! It's just a joke, man! Well, anyway, they'll be here around the hour of noon, so you might want to get freshened up, now."

* * *

Noel is in their bedroom, finalizing her outfit. Truth be told, she spent over an hour, just getting ready for the meeting at hand. Noel is looking in the mirror, brushing her hair. Her outfit consisted of a milky white skirt with a pink shirt with a heart in the center. _"I'm pretty sure that this is the perfect color combination to use when meeting people for the first time. Pink is to show your girly self while white shows off your elegance!" _Noel giggles to herself after running that through her head. Once she was done brushing, she puts on her hairpin of a butterfly.

"Noel, your dream man is here!" Makoto's voice sounded.

Noel walked out of the bedroom. She saw many people in the living room, a bit bigger than how she expected them to be. However, she could exactly tell where the boy named Ragna is. "Where's Ragna, Makoto?"

Makoto responds by pointing at Ragna. Once they've made eye contact, they give each other equally shocked looks, too much for words.

* * *

So...one thing I'd like to ask you people who followed both stories is which side would you like to see in their first meeting? If you plan on reviewing, please tell me that. Depending on the general consensus, I'll do that character's perspective.

Also, I feel as though the rebels might be a bit too short for you guys so I have a poll up in my profile. If you want to let me know how you think on that, you can vote on it. It'll only take you a few seconds. :D

Anyway, thanks for reading, as always!

**Rebel Eight: End**


	9. Cool Head, Noel

Alright, you people who have been starving for New Leaf! I've been posting about Life's Stimulant non-stop and I decided to give New Leaf some love!

As always, enjoy it!

* * *

**Rebel Nine: Cool Head, Noel**

Noel stared at Ragna with a completely discombobulated face. She had no idea that the same boy who helped her out would the boy named Ragna. She remembers in her coma that she was told to save Ragna. But from what? _"What are the odds that the same boy who helped me out would be Ragna? I mean...wow! But...that doesn't matter. I was told that he was in trouble but with what?" _Noel shook her head a few times before pointing at Ragna's face. "You're the boy who helped me out the other day!"

Ragna did the same to Noel. "And you're the chick who got lost and didn't know where the hell she was going!"

Something snapped inside Makoto's head. "Wait a minute! Ragna, you told me you helped out a girl who looked like your sister. Noel, you told me that a boy helped you out when you got lost? That means..."

Tsubaki took the honors of finishing for Makoto. "They didn't know that they were one and the same person..."

An awkward silence happens...which is followed by laughter from all. All but Ragna and Noel were laughing. Noel looks down at the floor with her face red from embarrassment. _"I feel so stupid! But, Ragna didn't recognize me either. I guess that we're on even footing then..._

Ragna clears his throat. "Well...Noel...despite this horrendous coincidence...I'm...Ragna..." Ragna extends a hand to Noel.

Noel looks at his hand for a moment before engaging in a handshake. "Nice to meet you also...I'm...Noel...although we've met once before already."

Noel saw a girl with silver hair leering at her. She looks at Noel with a suspicious expression. "You don't look like a fangirl to Nu... Fine! Nu approves! I'm Nu, a pleasure to meet you! Just so you know, you don't have a chance with Ragna so Nu suggests that you give up after today is over."

Noel's eyes went wide with a face slightly red. _"What? Is this girl in love with him or something? I don't even know him! So apparently...her name is Nu..." _

Ragna pushes the girl named Nu away from Noel. "Hey! Hey! Hey! You don't have to be this way to every girl we meet!" Ragna turns to Noel. "That's Nu, my yandere friend. She'll stab you if she sees you all kissy-face with me."

Noel's pupils shrunk. _"Huh? Can she really do that? You know what? I'd rather not know for sure." _"Uh...sure..."

A girl who looked like Nu stepped up to Noel. This girl had blonde hair instead but those same red eyes. "Hello, Noel. I am Lambda, the sister of Nu. Please excuse my sister's behavior. She cannot help herself when it comes to Ragna."

Noel gently smiles and shakes hands with Lambda. "It's alright. I'm Noel."

A slender boy with blonde hair walks up to Noel. He had some sort of stare that made him a bit intimidating to Noel. "Hello, I'm Jin. I'm...the brother of Ragna. If you ever need any assistance...just let me know..."

It took Noel some time but she shook hands with Jin. "Thank you..."

After all the introductions were done, all who were not Ragna and Noel were staring and Ragna and Noel. Makoto is the first to inquire about their outfits. "Why are you two wearing pink and white, by the way?"

Ragna and Noel looked at each other to take a look at each other's outfits. Noel found herself a bit shocked at Ragna. He has a pink shirt on with white stripes with some milky white pants on. She was shy around most boys because of their intimidation factor but she felt a bit comfortable around him.

Before Noel could explain, Ragna took the liberty to be the first to explain. "Well...uh...I was just thinking that this pink might bring out the feminine side in me and the white will show off my elegance."

"HUH? You're kidding!" Noel's jaw dropped. "Who are you? I was thinking the same thing behind wearing this outfit!

Ragna's eyes popped. "YOU'RE KIDDING!"

Everyone else in the room starts laughing again. They knew that what the odds it would be such a coincidence are that they never knew that they've already met each other in school AND have the same colors on when meeting each other for the first time.

Ragna and Noel gave each other the most shocked expressions they could give. _"Who is this boy? He thinks just like me! This could be just a coincidence but what are the odds? So...the girl in my dream told me that Ragna was in trouble but he doesn't look troubled at all. Maybe it was a foresight like she said I got some glimpses of? Maybe I should...no...maybe I shouldn't tell him because he'll think I'm crazy or something. Ooh...I don't know what to do! But...why does it feel like he really needs me to save him?" _

Ragna scratches the back of his head a few times. "So...wow...I don't know what to say about this whole thing..."

Noel nods to Ragna. She gave him a reassuring smile. "It's okay. I don't know what to say either."

Everyone got done laughing once again. Makoto goes to Ragna and Noel and puts an arm on each of their shoulders. "Well...I suggest that you two get to know each other since you two wanted this meeting so badly. Make it alllll worthwhile! Ha, ha, ha! You two go on ahead. We'll just stay here and just chat it up! Meet back here around twenty hundred hours, yeah?"

Ragna and Noel could only nod at Makoto as they made their way out the door. Once they were on the other side of the door, Makoto gently closes the door behind them.

Noel swallows once. _"Okay...I'm all alone with a boy. It's okay, Noel. Just think about it as if you're talking to girls except...more...masculine...deeper voices...and...flat chests...OH! What am I thinking?" _

Ragna's voice sounded. "Uh...wow...nice...pink and white..."

"_Oh no! He just spoke to me! Uh...what do I say?" _Noel shyly nods. "Same to you... Where are we going, Ragna?"

Ragna looks on ahead. "You just moved here the other day, yeah? I know a place you might like. It's in a little place called Orient Town, not too far from here."

Noel looks ahead, also. _"So Ragna is treating me to a restaurant. I'd better not screw this up by saying the wrong thing..." _

* * *

Gotta keep a cool head, Noel!

**Rebel Nine: End**


	10. Lift

Some review replies.

VesperianElemental: That really cracked me up. Ha, ha, ha!

Bebere: Your insightful reviews are always so intriguing to read. I can't wait to see what you have to say next.

So anyway, here we go! Noel goes to hang out with Ragna!

* * *

**Rebel Ten: Lift**

Ragna and Noel were just guided to their table in the restaurant in Orient Town. Noel takes in the atmosphere of the restaurant. She takes a deep breath, inhaling the aroma of food. "Wow...this is a nice restaurant here!"

Ragna nods. "Yep...I usually go here whenever I have the money for it. It's usually expensive. However, since you and I wanted to have this meeting so badly, I decided to take some money out of my savings to treat you to this restaurant."

Noel blushes. _"He didn't have to go that far..." _"Aww...you didn't have to do that..."

Ragna sighs. "Just accept it, okay?"

Noel clears her throat. _"Heads up, eyes forward, Noel!" _She then forces out a smile. "Well, I'm Noel Vermillion. It's nice to meet you, Ragna." Noel tried hard to hide the tension in her voice.

Ragna quickly nods his head. "Yes...likewise..."

Noel giggles. She just went with basic stuff; ice breaker stuff. "So...what's it like in your life?"

Ragna scratches his head. "Well...I live in an apartment with two odd sisters and my uptight brother."

Noel nods to Ragna. It was working so Noel decided to keep it at that pace. "That's nice. Anything else?"

Ragna gulps. "Well...I work at a manga bookstore with your roommate Makoto."

An eyebrow rose from Noel. _"Why did he swallow? Is he ashamed of where he works or my roommate? I'd be too...more or less..." _"Yep, I knew that. I heard from her that you screamed like an old lady." Noel's pupils shrunk a bit because that last bit just came out of her mouth; she didn't mean to say that.

Ragna sighs. "Yeah...you try being prank called."

Noel giggles at the revelation. "Sorry!" Noel struggled to keep the tension out of her voice again. _"Darn it! I hope he doesn't get mad!" _

Ragna laughs softly, then clears his throat."Alright, that's enough about me. Why don't you start telling me a bit about yourself?"

Noel shakes her head a few times. _"Me? Oh no! I forgot about that part of the conversation! Why is talking to boys so hard?" _"Um...me? Well...I, uh...transferred over here. That's a given. I...I'm not really good a speaking with boys, though..."

A single eyebrow rose Ragna. "Oh really? You seem fine to me."

Noel gazes at Ragna with her emerald eyes. _"Whew! At least I know I'm doing okay..."_ "Um...if you say so... Anyway, how's that for a coincidence, Ragna? We're both wearing pink and white. It's a bit funny, isn't it?"

Noel observed Ragna looking rather agitated. He had his arms crossed tightly around his mid-section. Not only that, Noel saw that he's sweating a bit. _"Is he not feeling well?"_ "Are you okay, Ragna?"

Ragna takes a deep breath. "Yeah...I'm fine...why?"

"_Should I really be doing this to someone I just met? Ooh...here goes nothing..." _Noel starts to attempt to place a hand on Ragna's forehead. "Because you look shaken about something. Is it my breath or a fever or something like that?"

Ragna gives out a shriek as he jumps out of his seat. Noel's eyes widened at him. "What's wrong? Seriously!"

Ragna clears his throat. "Um...I was just uh...nursing my stiff muscle...yeah...that's it..."

Noel shakes her head at him. _"And I thought I wasn't good at talking with the opposite gender. Maybe it's the same with him?"_ "If you say so...but please tell me if anything is wrong. Oops! I might sound like your mother or something." Noel gives out a nervous giggle.

Noel saw that the food that they ordered was about to be served. She happily squeals. "Our food is here, Ragna!"

Ragna gave out a sigh. "Whoopee freaking doo!"

* * *

Afterwards, Ragna and Noel were satisfied with their meals. The plates that once held their food were cleaned out. Noel happily sighed. _"Man...that felt great!" _"Thanks for taking me here, Ragna!"

Ragna chuckles. "It's no problem."

Noel taps Ragna's shoulder. "If it's not too much, since you took me to a restaurant, could I ask you to take me to the best shopping district here?"

Ragna takes a deep breath. "Sure! Tit for tat, right?" Ragna followed with a chuckle_. _"Yay! Let's go!"

_"Wow! Asking that was easier than I thought." _Noel felt herself being dragged by Ragna. Noel yells out in dismay of Ragna holding her like that. _"Why are we always running?" _

* * *

Ragna and Noel were in the shopping district in Kagutsuchi City. Inside this shopping district, they were in a roller skater area. Noel was at the sideline looking at Ragna performing tricks on his roller blades.

Ragna seemed to be enjoying himself. "Whoo! Look at me go! ACK!" Ragna crashed into the wall.

Noel tried to stop herself from laughing but the heat of the moment was just too much for her to bear. "Ha, ha, ha! You fell!"

Ragna growled while in his discombobulated state. "Why don't YOU try roller skating?"

Noel shrieked. "I'm sorry!"

* * *

In the clothing section, Noel had just emerged with a new outfit on. She had a light dress that was light blue. "What do you think, Ragna?"

Noel saw that he looked hypnotized. Noel giggled at this and went back into the fitting room. "You're so easy to read, Ragna!"

Ragna growled at Noel. "Hey! I didn't say a damn thing, yet! I think it's ugly!"

A few moments later, Noel emerged with a maid outfit.

Ragna made no effort in hiding his amusement; he's laughing as hard as he could. "You look really fat in that one, no doubt!"

Noel looks down to the floor and slowly returns to the fitting room.

* * *

Noel and Ragna go into a pet store.

Ragna whines rather childishly. "Remind me why pet stores are good?"

Noel is already staring at some dogs. "Because they're so cute to look at! I wish I had one but that's a bit expensive..."

Ragna looks around a bit. A parrot caught his eye. "Hmm...I heard about these..."

"You suck!" The parrot said at Ragna.

Ragna's eyes popped. He taps Noel's shoulder, snapping her out of her trance. "Noel, did you see that? That thing just spoke!"

Noel gave a clueless look to Ragna. "Animals can't talk." Noel turns to the parrot. "Did you just speak, cutie?"

"No." The parrot replied.

Noel giggled at Ragna. "See? You're just being so silly, Ragna."

* * *

Ragna and Noel were in the shopping district's Ferris Wheel. Noel appeared to be whimpering while inside. "I'm scared, Ragna..."

Ragna rolls his eyes. "Oh, you can't tell me you're afraid of heights."

Noel gulps. "No...I'm just a little bit uncomfortable about hanging nearly fifty feet in the air over a million people who look like ants from up here!"

Ragna sighs. "Look, Noel...I'm right beside you. For...emotional support, I'll hold your hand. Is that okay with you?"

Noel slowly moved her head up and down to signal her consent. Slowly but surely, it happened. Noel felt the touch of Ragna's hand with her own hand. Ragna felt something almost immediately as their hands were intertwined. _"His hands are so rough but so warm. It makes me feel protected...Oh no! What am I thinking?" _

Ragna nudged Noel. "Hey, are you feeling better?"

Noel leaned her head on Ragna's shoulder. She felt herself growing drowsy. "Thanks for this, Ragna...I'm feeling better now..."

* * *

Noel and Ragna were in the perfume section of the shopping district. Noel sprayed some perfume on her hand. She puts her hand in front of Ragna's face so he could smell it. "What do you think, Ragna?"

Ragna's response is to cough abrasively. Noel head shook in disapproval. _"You know...with that pink shirt on, I'd guess he would have a feminine side to him. I guess not..." _

* * *

Ragna and Noel were finally out of the shopping district in Kagutsuchi City. Noel and Ragna were carrying a bunch of stuff they bought from the stores. Noel looks up at the sky. "Oh look...it's sunset..."

Ragna makes a slight grin while looking at the sunset."I know of a perfect place where we can hang out for the sunset."

* * *

Ragna and Noel were sitting at the edge of a very large lake, away from the city and in a more...quiet area.

Noel takes a deep breath in and out. She felt pretty exhilarated that her first time hanging out with a boy went smoothly for the most part. "I really had so much fun with you, Ragna. You sure know how to have a good time."

Ragna nods. "Yeah...as long as you had a good time, I'm okay with it."

Noel looks at the sunset for about three second before turning back to Ragna. "Seriously, though...I really enjoyed myself. I never thought I would get along with a boy this well. I told you this before but I'm not really good in talking with boys."

Ragna nodded, signaling Noel to continue. "My...mother once told me to not regret anything that you might do that doesn't involve something insane."

Ragna sighs. "You know...there are some things that I regret every day. I...once had a sister. We were like best friends that nobody could separate."

Noel stared at Ragna. This was a bit strange that he was bringing this sister up. "That's a nice relationship your sister you once had. I'm happy for you, Ragna." Noel gasps. She remembered that Ragna lived with his brother but not his sister. "Wait! You said you once had a sister...does that mean...?"

Ragna only nodded in response.

Noel places a hand on Ragna's shoulder. _"He must be telling me this for a reason...but what?"_ Ragna turns to Noel. "I'm so sorry. That must have been hard for you, Ragna. But...why are you all of a sudden telling me this?"

Ragna gulps. "Well...in a way, you're not stranger to me. It's because my sister sort of had your looks."

Noel tilts her head slightly. _"I look like his sister? What?" _"Um...okay..."

Ragna hesitated for a bit but continued on with his story."While I was in middle school, my sister developed leukemia. She had a long battle with it but ultimately, she died from it...and I was there...at her last breathing moment. I was just thinking that...if I told this to you, I could just tell her...I'm sorry for not being able to help her enough..." Ragna's face starts to harbor tears.

"_So I'm like a shadow of his sister. It's no wonder he sometimes felt awkward around me. Maybe...that's what I was supposed to save him from. Maybe I was supposed to help him let go of the past. It's time for me to help him, then. _Noel slides in closer to Ragna and wraps her arms around him. "Thank you for telling me this, Ragna. Also, I don't think that you owe your sister an apology for not being strong enough for her. She knows that you were at her side when she died...and I think that's enough for her. Also, I don't think you should have any regrets. You did what you could have done. If I was in your situation at the time, I don't think there's anything more I could have done either...so please...don't have any regrets about your sister dying. I'm sure she died, knowing that she had the best brother in the world at her bedside in her last moments."

Ragna slowly took a deep breath. "...You're right...I won't regret my decisions anymore...and possibly..."

Noel looks up at Ragna. "Huh?"

Ragna gulps. He gently pushes Noel off of him. "I'm sorry, could I have moment alone...?"

Noel smiles toward Ragna. "Sure, Ragna...take your time."

Noel continues to look forward into the lake that had the sunset reflecting off it. _"He's probably thinking about what I just said to him. That was a bit nerve-wracking but it was nice that I was able to tell that to him. I look like his sister, huh? I'd be disturbed if I had a brother and another boy looked like him. He must have gotten along so well with his sister. And to meet me, a look-alike has to feel a bit haunting. Wait...what's that sound?" _

Noel hears footsteps rapidly approaching her direction. Her danger sense sprung but she was so stricken by fear, she slowly turned her head.

* * *

As always, thanks for reading!

**Rebel Ten: End**


	11. Trust

Hello, everybody! I'm back with another Rebel of New Leaf!

All the errors that were pointed out last chapter have been edited! Thanks for the tip offs! :D

* * *

**Rebel Eleven: Trust**

Noel turns about the quarter way behind. There, she sees Ragna sprinting to the restroom provided to people who are visiting the lake. A single drop of sweat streams down her face. _"What is it with him and the toilet? Is the bathroom his secret clubhouse or something?" _

Noel sighs to herself and decides to take their shopping stuff and make it to the bathroom herself. When she arrives to the bathroom, she spots Ragna emerging with a look of relief. She gave him a look that signaled him to spill the beans. "Wow...you must have needed the toilet pretty badly with that speed."

Ragna nodded with nervousness. "Yeah...I was thinking that I could wait until I got home but unfortunately that wasn't going to happen. But, at least I relieved myself." Ragna sighs.

Noel puts up a smirk. _"Why would he try to hold it in?" _Noel giggles. "Hey, nature calls, right?" Noel begins to experience lightheadedness. "Speaking of, now I have to go myself. I'll be back. Can you keep an eye on the stuff?"

Ragna nods. "Sure..."

Noel walks inside the women's room. There, she stares at herself in the mirror. She takes a deep breath before speaking into the mirror. "It's happening again. Did I not accomplish my task?"

A voice echoed. _"You've met Ragna...that's good...but not good enough. You seemed to have gained his trust at a more accelerated pace than I thought you did. However, he still does not trust himself with you fully." _

Noel looks around the room, searching for the source of the voice. "Who are you, really? Why is it so important that I gain his trust? Tell me!"

It took a few seconds but the voice gave its response. _"You might think of it as ludicrous but you're saving your own life by gaining his trust." _

Noel's confusion turned into irritation. "Will you please stop being so cryptic and come out with the truth, already? I don't even understand why I have to do this or what I'm going to accomplish by doing so!"

The voice boomed. _"Fool! You think that life is all about gaining answers just by asking for them but it's not how it works! Working for the answers will yield more experience and thus has a better chance of making you a stronger person all around! Now listen! You have to stick with Ragna no matter what. He's still in trouble and you're his only way out of it. Continue to gain his trust; confessing to you that you're a look-alike to his sister is not enough." _

Noel, with a feeling of nausea, stumbles to the floor, hyperventilating. "Oh...my head..."

The voice sounded one last time. _"We shall meet again. Farewell..." _

After a few seconds, Noel was sure that the voice was no longer in her head. She slowly gets up from the floor. "What if I tell Ragna about these voices? Will he believe me? Oh! He's probably waiting for me. I don't want to keep him waiting."

* * *

Noel emerged from the women's room. "Sorry to keep you waiting!" Noel spots another boy with long hair and a scruffy chest. "Huh? Who's this, Ragna?"

The boy pointed contemptuously in her face with a knife. "YOU!"

Noel shrieked, being fearful of the knife that's just wanting to penetrate her body. Ragna stepped in front of the knife to shield her. "Bang, what the hell has gotten into you?"

Bang clutches his knife's handle. "That's the one who killed all those victims back where we once resided! I'm telling you the truth! She must be manipulating you!"

Noel's eyes popped. _"I...killed people? Was Ragna involved? Is that why I have to gain his trust? But...that's impossible!" _Noel's face became very red. "You must have me mistaken for someone else. Please put away your weapon." Noel gently requested.

Bang scowls at Noel. "Your innocent mask cannot fool me! I remember you well...that gaze, your powers, how you destroyed everything! I've been waiting all my life for this day when I would find you! Now that I have, I will take this chance to avenge those who died that day! Ragna, you were one of those victims! Don't side with this demon within a child!"

Tears started to fall from Noel's face. "I don't understand! Why do I have to take the punishment when I didn't do anything?" Something snapped inside Noel's head. _"Wait! It was I who said that line in my dream? So...the girl knew I would be in this situation?" _

Ragna looks down. "Bang...just...back off."

Noel gasps. _"Maybe this is why I have to gain his trust! I'm...being targeted and only he can save me from them!" _"Ragna, thank you!"

Bang's eyes went wide. "What do you think you're doing, you traitor?"

Ragna looks up grimy at Bang with a look of defiance. "Look...it's not that I don't believe you...it's just that...I also feel something with this chick, also..."

Bang lowered his knife down slightly. "Explain yourself, Ragna..."

Ragna sighs. "I've only known Noel today and..." Ragna pauses. "...And I don't think that she could the type of person who could kill...so please...just back off..."

Bang points his knife at Ragna, this time. "I've been waiting all my life to avenge those who died in the massacre. I vowed that nobody would interfere in getting vengeance against the madwoman who was responsible. Ragna, that includes you! If you are protecting her that means you are now my enemy!"

Ragna's look started to become more defiant. What he also remembers about Bang is that once he put his mind to something, he wouldn't stop until it got done. "You don't want to do this, Bang! Just back off right now!"

Bang's teeth clenched. Ragna's display of ineptitude from them being old friends was really getting on his nerves. "I must fulfill my destiny...but if means that I have to kill the one who I considered my closest friend...so be it."

Ragna unsheathes his own combat knife and points it at Bang. "You were always a stubborn asshole. It looks like I'll have to knock some sense into you...just like old times..." Ragna lets a grin slip after that last statement.

Noel puts her hands together as if she's reciting a prayer. _"Please be safe, Ragna..." _

* * *

As always, thanks for reading!

I hope you enjoyed reading more enigma.

**Rebel Eleven: End**


	12. Stay With Me

Ragna growls at the audience. "Geez...if you know that this story ties in with Life's Stimulant, you need to read both of them to understanding what's happening! Also. people speaking from over the phone have their text **Bolded.**"

* * *

**Rebel Twelve: Stay With me**

Ragna and Bang were staring each other down. They were just waiting for each other to make the first move. Ragna moved slightly backwards with his knife pointed at Bang. "Noel, get out of here!"

Noel's eyes popped. "What? No! I'm not going to abandon you!"

Ragna growls and turns his head to face Noel. "It's you that he's after! Don't ask! Just do it!"

Before Noel knew it, Ragna was already slammed to the wall by a brutal kick by Bang. Noel shrieked and ran into the girl's room again. She wraps her arms around her chest out of pure fear. _"That knife... It was just waiting to end my life."_

The fear was too much for Noel to bear; she just started to stream tears in a matter of seconds. In the middle of her waterworks, she gets an idea. _"Ah! Maybe they can help!"_

Noel whips out her IPhone and dials Makoto. _"Come on, Makoto! Answer the phone!"_

**"Hey, Noel! How's the date going?"**

"Help us!"

**"Huh?"**

"Ragna is fighting someone who's trying to kill me! They're both armed but...please get here fast!"

Makoto's voice became very stern.** "Stay there! Okay? We're on our way right now!"**

"Alright!"

Noel hangs up from the phone. Soon, she felt another wave of nausea. She goes into one of the stalls to vomit into the toilet profusely_. "What in the world does that girl want from me? Why does she torment me so? I didn't do anything! Please...please...please...leave me alone!"_

"Noel! It's me!" Ragna's voice sounded.

In that instant upon hearing Ragna's voice, Noel became revitalized. She runs out of her stall and out of the bathroom. She saw that Ragna is relatively unscathed. Noel, heartbeat started to decelerate out of relief and stated to harbor tears. She wanted to embrace Ragna so much. She wanted to feel that veil of protection. However, she sees Bang rapidly approaching Ragna from behind with his knife in tow. Noel shrieked. "Ragna, behind you!"

Ragna looks behind him to see that Bang was not done. He was directly behind him and was in the middle of performing a downward thrust with his knife. Ragna tries to sway one side but ultimately, a part of the knife slashed down Ragna's right arm, thus cutting a wound into it. Ragna is on one knee, clutching his right arm. Noel shrieked again out of pure fear. _"No! Ragna is hurt! Ragna is hurt! Don't die! Don't die! Don't die! You got hurt! You got hurt...because of me. I can't protect you...why? Have I...failed?"_ Noel anxiously awaited a response of the voice again but there was no response.

Noel felt herself fading again. Noel was just barely able to see Ragna knock out Bang by repeatedly bashing his head against the wall until he was unconscious. Noel looks away, feeling a murderous vibe from Ragna. _"No...more...no more...please no more...let it all end...I don't care if I die...please make it stop..."_

Noel, with her vision clouded by tears saw Ragna kneeling down to her level while clutching his right arm. Noel stared at the blood that was oozing out of the orifice made by the knife that penetrated Ragna's skin.

"Are you okay?" Ragna's voice sounded.

Noel looks up at Ragna with eyes full of tears. Her fear started to turn into anger. This anger directed at Ragna is because of the stupidity on both ends that resulted in the wound. "I should be the one asking that question!" Noel said emotionally. "This is my entire fault! You're bleeding because of me! What's wrong with you, Ragna?" Noel felt her brain speaking for her.

Ragna had a confused look on his face. "Uh...did I miss something?"

At this point, Noel felt as though her body was out of her control. She made no effort to hold back her tears and her emotions. It was probably for the better as her emotions snowballed throughout the entire affair. This was her time to finally let go. Noel's brain spoke for herself. "You're so stupid, Ragna! You're so stupid! Are you trying to scare me to death? You're so stupid!"

Ragna became slightly irritated but too weak to get more than just irritated. "Hey...I'm the one who saved your ass back there. Quit calling me stupid." Ragna said in soft anger.

Noel places her left hand over Ragna's right arm that was bleeding profusely. She uses this wound to emphasize the next part of her worrywart rant. "Do you see this, Ragna? It's because you're so stupid to get yourself hurt! Please don't scare me like that!" Noel felt sobs coming again. "Seriously...I...was...really scared...alright?" Noel said in breaks of bated breath. Noel felt as though Ragna would die any moment. She didn't want the veil of protection to go.

Ragna growled softly. "Uh...my bad...I guess that arm wound shouldn't have happened but...I guess I'm...sorry..."

Noel reached her emotional climax. Her sobs and tears came at full throttle. Noel threw herself onto Ragna, not wanting to let go, not wanting to have him disappear right in front of her. She embraced him as tight as she could. _"So...warm. I don't want this warmth to go away. It feels so...reassuring..."_

Ragna softly spoke into Noel's ear. "Shh...it's okay, Noel. I'm not going anywhere..."

Noel sniffles. She wouldn't be convinced by mere words that Ragna wasn't going anywhere. She spoke as she continued her tight embrace around Ragna. "That's not the problem here! It's your arm! It's because of me that your arm is...is..."

Ragna grumbles. "Will you shut up? At least you tipped me off to his attack. If you didn't I probably would have died then and there so please just shut up."

Noel felt another wave of emotions coming. She made no effort to hold back. Noel couldn't recall the last time the cried this hard. Noel just cried...until no more tears could emerge from her eyes.

"Ragna! Noel! Are you two alright?" Makoto's voice sounded.

Noel looks behind her to see Makoto, Tsubaki, Jin, Nu, and Lambda running in their direction. They all gave looks of horror once they saw the situation at hand.

Noel saw that Jin was leering at her. "You! You better not have caused this to happen to my brother!"

Tsubaki slaps Jin's face. "Jin, that's uncalled for! Ragna, are you okay? We got a call from Noel telling us that you were being attacked by somebody."

Noel felt herself being pushed away by Ragna. Noel didn't want Ragna to let her go. Noel just wanted to say there, with Ragna. She just wanted to feel his warmth.

Ragna spoke while facing the group. "I'll tell you about it later. For now...we have to get this wound treated before it gets infected."

Noel stood up. She clung herself to Ragna's left arm. She didn't want him to go without her. She just wanted to feel his warmth. Noel just wanted to be with Ragna, nothing else. "Stupid..."

Ragna growls again. "Goddamn it! Are you like this whenever somebody gets hurt?"

Noel ignored Ragna's question and continued to hang onto Ragna's left arm. _"Please...don't go..."_

* * *

The people who reviewed are awesome! Please agree.

**Rebel Twelve: End**


	13. Unfounded Puzzle Piece

There will be cake!

* * *

**Rebel Thirteen: Unfounded Puzzle Piece**

Noel and Makoto were in the lobby. It had been a grim silence for at least half an hour. Makoto finally decided to break the silence by initiating conversation. "Noel, you haven't said a word since we got here. Are you okay?"

Noel only shook her head in response. "Ragna...nearly got killed. I...I got accused of killing everyone back in Ikaruga apparently."

Makoto sighed. "Noel, if you really did cause that massacre, you'd be a locked away in a place far from here. You're a bit traumatized by that attack, I know that much. Try to cheer up! You and Ragna are lucky to be alive."

Noel's mind spoke for herself again. "It's happening again..."

Makoto knew what Noel was talking about. Her voice became stern. "You're hearing that voice again? Did you pass out?"

Noel nodded. "No...but that voice did say that it was important that Ragna should trust me. I don't know if he does since apparently, I'm the person who murdered everybody.

Makoto shook Noel by the shoulders a few times. "Listen, Noel! You're not a murderer! Don't listen to that asshole who accused you! There's not even any evidence! Besides, it's not like you have any psychic powers, do you?" Something inside of Makoto's brain snaps. "Wait...you're hearing all those voices. Does that mean...?"

Noel buried her face in the nest made from her hands. "Oh, Makoto, I don't know what to do at all! I really don't remember a thing about that massacre! I don't even know that hearing voices and passing out randomly counts as psychic powers! I'm really sorry. I don't even know what to do."

Makoto rubs Noel's back a few times. "It's okay, Noel. I'll stick by you until I'm fully convinced that you're a killer. I'm not so sure of Tsubaki though but I'm sure she'll trust you, also."

Before Noel could respond, the door out of the patient's room opens, revealing Ragna. Ragna gives out a reassuring smile. "I'm here, ladies. I'm fine."

Makoto gets up from her seat and pats Ragna's right wounded arm. "I still can't believe that someone would think about Noel like that."

Noel stared at the arm. She took it as a grim reminder on how they were knocking on death's door not too long ago. She felt her heartbeat accelerating again. This time, Noel made more of an effort to suppress her emotions.

Ragna looks around the room. "Where are the others?"

Makoto took the liberty of explaining. "They're taking that jackass to NOL custody. Also, I think that's good for you, considering that Nu wanted to glomp you so badly."

Noel saw Ragna making eye contact with her. Her eyes started to tear up again. _"Why do I always cry whenever I see that wound?"_

Ragna sighed. Ragna cooed a gentle voice to her. "Come on, Noel. You can't be like this forever..."

Noel slowly gets up from her chair and walked up to Ragna. She felt a million thoughts coming but only these thoughts came out to words. "Come on, Noel. You can't be like this forever..."

Ragna groans. "How many times do I have to tell you, Noel? You didn't do anything?" Ragna changes the subject. "Look, we should wait for the others to get back. Once we do so, we can straighten this whole thing out."

* * *

It is late at night, with everyone inside the apartment. Ragna and Noel were standing in front of a pseudo-audience that all had their arms crossed. Ragna went first to explain. "Okay...here's what happened. Noel and I went to the bathroom to do our business with nature. I just happened to bump into an old friend of mine who apparently thought that Noel was the one who was responsible for the massacre that happened back in Ikaruga Town. He also said something about Noel having a certain gaze while destroying everything with her psionic powers or some shit like that. Then, he thought I was a traitor and I was just barely able to fight him off."

Tsubaki scratched her hair. "This doesn't make any sense. Why would he think that Noel was responsible for the massacre?"

Jin sighed. "I don't know. As a survivor of the massacre, I can't really say because my brother and I just escaped. But our mother was killed while allowing us to escape."

Noel starts to harbor tears. _"Please let this boil over. I don't want to be a part of this any longer." _"I just don't...understand..."

Ragna groans. "Damn it, Noel! Don't start crying again! You didn't have anything to do with the massacre, right? So maybe you should stop worrying about what that asshole said about you! Besides, you don't even have psychic powers or whatever the hell they're called!"

Makoto scratches her chin. "I also heard about a girl with psionic powers imprisoned in an asylum not too long after that. The general consensus of the victims during that massacre said that she was the one who did it."

Jin inquired. "Brother, do you remember much about her?"

Ragna pauses for a second before talking. "I don't know much. All I remember about her is that she wasn't much of a talker. She must have snapped and that's probably what caused her to start the massacre. Although, that's all I can think of but...ARGH! I don't want to have to decipher it all! I've moved on from that massacre a long time ago! I don't want to relive that massacre again!"

Jin nodded. "Same here, brother."

Lambda stands up. "Lambda suggests that we move on as if nothing ever happened."

Ragna sighs. "You're right..."

Noel taps Ragna's shoulder. "Ragna, are you going to be okay?"

Ragna leers down at Noel. "I should be the one asking you that question! You've been complaining about my arm and blaming yourself non-stop with this mess!"

Noel returns Ragna's leer. _"What does he want? Does he really want to die? He's always throwing my concerns back in my face!" _"Can you blame me for being concerned about you?"

Makoto steps in between them. "Okay, that's enough. I think we get that we've just been through something serious here. Let's just move on; that jackass who attacked you two is behind bars, already."

Out of nowhere, Ragna heads out the door.

Noel then saw Nu heading out as well. "Ragna, wait! Please don't leave without us!"

Lambda and Jin slowly made their way out the door as well.

Tsubaki shuts the door to their apartment and stares at Noel. "This certainly has been one catastrophic day."

Makoto threw herself onto the couch. "Tell me about it! I never knew that we would be talking about the Ikaruga massacre again."

Noel felt a wash of determination over her. She wanted answers this time. "I don't get what this so called massacre is about! Could somebody please tell me what it's all about?"

Tsbuaki sat down on the chair again and began to explain. "You never heard of it? It was a disturbance whose news spread like wildfire. You see, there was a girl who lived there. She lived there in isolation, not wanting to speak with others. Some other people there said that she sometimes is seen staring out the window of her house. Whenever she emerged from her hose, grim silence and deathly stares followed. She paid no heed to them, though. Nobody knows her name but she wasn't that much of a talker, either. One day...she left the village for a night and the afternoon of the next day, she just came back and started to destroy everything. After she was done utterly destroying the town with her psionic abilities, she collapsed and the authorities wasted no time in seizing her and locking her up. You might bear a resemblance to her. It could explain why that vindictive person tried to kill you."

Noel thinks about it for a moment. "But it doesn't make any sense! I didn't live there and I don't have any psychic powers whatsoever! I don't even remember anything about killing people!"

Makoto sighs. "Like I said, it's probably some justice deranged asshole." Makoto yawns. "I'm going to bed. I'm tired from trying to decipher it all."

Tsubaki nods in agreement. "I think we all could use some shuteye from such an adventure of a day. Hmm? Is something the matter, Noel?"

Noel collapses a second later.

* * *

I can't find the cake!

**Rebel Thirteen: End**


	14. Taking A Chance

Hello, everybody! The show must go on and it shall!

Enjoy the continuation!

* * *

**Rebel Fourteen: Taking a Chance**

Noel found herself standing in a void of pure white. She has no conception of where or what this place is supposed to be. She takes a few steps forward but stops.

"_Where in the world am I? Where did Tsubaki and Makoto go?" _

A girl's somber voice calls out. "Noel...Vermillion..."

Noel whips her head around to see that same girl who she saw while she was comatose. "You again...! What do you want from me? I've done what you asked!" Noel really wanted no part of what the girl could possibly hold in store for her.

The girl, with her deep blue lifeless eyes continued to stare at Noel with a blankness that had indefinable emotions in it. She moved within point blank range of Noel before stopping. "You have been recently accused of a massacre it seems. You are not to blame. I know that for a fact."

Noel stepped back once while harboring slight anger. "You don't have any evidence! How do you know that I'm innocent? I never even met you in real life! You keep showing up out of nowhere, knocking me out cold and-"

Noel was cut off by the girl grabbing one of Noel's hands and squeezing it tight. Noel grimaces in pain a bit. The girl spoke forcefully at her. "Time is not on our side! You must listen to me!"

The girl lets go of Noel's hand. Noel's eyes slightly had tears in them. Noel stared helplessly into those cold, lifeless, deep blue eyes. She falls to her knees to the floor. "Just...who are you? What do you want from me? Just please tell me. I don't want to be left in the dark any longer..."

The girl stared at Noel's helpless state on the ground with no emotion. "I'm going to reveal to you something. It will solve the puzzle that's been revolving in your mind. Study these events I am about to show you well..."

Noel suddenly feel like this girl was about to solve her problems. She didn't know if it was her being naïve again or if was her gut telling her to do so. She thinks about this for a moment and looks up at the girl. "If I come with you...I will know the truth?"

The girl only nodded. "You must accept everything about the events you're about to have knowledge about. What you're about to witness are past events that I have seen with my own eyes. I've chosen you to relive these memories of mine because you're the perfect person to share these memories with." The girl reached out a single hand to Noel. "Trust in me..."

Noel stared at this girl's hand for a very long time. She wondered if this was a trap or not. At this point, she didn't have much of a choice. It was pretty much take a chance with this girl or potentially wander lost in the void of her mind forever. Eventually, she came to her decision. "...I trust you."

The girl made a slight smile at her. "...A wise choice, Noel Vermillion..."

Noel grabs the girl's hand and a bright light shines.

* * *

I know what you're thinking. "That chapter was extremely short!" I purposely made it this short so I can give you some time to speculate what this girl might have to show to Noel. I feel as though it will make you look forward to the story a little bit more. That, and I'm still trying to take it easy to prevent burnout.

Well anyway, thanks for reading despite this being short and try to speculate! I hope to read what you think in your reviews!

**Rebel Fourteen: End**


	15. How We Met

**Important:** Earlier today, I actually got this chapter done but then unfortunately, it got deleted when my computer automatically restarted, forcing me to redo the entire chapter. I raged out in my Forum, threatening to discontinue the series but everyone tried calming me down, which they succeeded in doing.

A shout out goes to these users: EchoesofMercy, Vesperian-Ivia-Elemental, Bebere.

I'm not kidding, I was really considering discontinuing the series but these people convince me to go on. So anyway, I'm dedicating this particular chapter to those people and of course, to the rest of my audience and I hope you guys appreciate me making this chapter practically twice in rapid succession on the same day because I did it just for you guys.

* * *

**Rebel Fifteen: How We Met**

Noel found herself floating in a void of pure darkness. She felt a bit scared floating like this but then she saw the girl in front of her, floating all the same, removing her fear almost instantly. "What do you have to show to me?"

The girl took a few moments but then spoke. "Noel...long has it been since I last met you face to face. My powers allow me to telepathically connect with you and implementing them further allows me to take you into the void of my mind."

Noel's eyes widened. "Wait a minute...now it makes sense...the fact that this place is changing every time...we are in your mind, aren't we?"

The girl grimaces at Noel. "I would think you'd get that conception, considering I am allowing you to view my memories."

Noel made a cute pouty face. "Well...how was I supposed to know earlier? I'm not the one with psychic stuff or whatever it is!" Noel said that rather...childishly. Soon, she recognized her mistake and her face turned a bit red. "I'm...sorry..."

The girl made a faint smile. "Apology accepted. I've been looking forward to this for a long time when I could talk to you again. But first, I present to you my past memory."

Noel gulps once. _"Finally...I'm going to see what this girl wants with me...and what it has to do with me..." _

The girl started to fade. "It falls to you, Noel, to relive my memories...and believe..." Her voice echoed as she completely faded away.

Noel started to feel faded again. Before she could say anything, she gets a weird sensation as if gravity is softly pulling her to the ground. Soon, she feels her feet touching the ground. She looks around a few times to find some sort of sign that something has changed in her environment.

* * *

After about a whole minute, Noel found herself in a bedroom. She sees that it's the standard bedroom with a bed, a door, some bookshelves, and a closet, the makings of an average bedroom. She looks out the window to see that it was nighttime.

On the bed, she spots a little girl sitting on the side of the bed with her back to her. She apparently had the standard nightgown on. She heard slight crying from the girl. Noel's curiosity already took her over and started to walk slowly to the bedside where the girl was sitting.

She once she was there, she sat down next to the girl and stared at her as she was softly crying. "What's wrong, little girl?"

The girl made no reply as she continued to cry.

Noel made a slight smile toward the girl. "It's okay...you can talk to me. My name is..."

Noel was cut off from the sound of the door opening. Simultaneously, Noel and the girl looked behind her to see that there was a woman at her bedroom door. Noel immediately recognized the woman. "M...Mother? Mother! I'm so happy to see you again!" Noel heard no reply. Noel's eyes slowly became disheartened. "Mother! Don't you recognize me? It's me, Noel!"

Noel's mother made no reply. Instead, she walked to her. Noel's eyes continued to dissipate of spirit. "Mother, why won't you answer me?"

Her guide's voice echoed._ "Fool! I was hoping you'd have the common sense that you are non-existent here but apparently, I was proven wrong about that! Sometimes, I wonder...never mind...just take in what happens and don't direct a single word toward them! This is just a mere projection of my memories!"_

Then, it made sense to Noel. She continues to watch the memory go on.

Noel's mother sat next to the little girl as she cried. She wraps an arm around the girl. "Why are you crying? It's your birthday, is it not?" Noel's mother spoke softly.

It took a while for the girl to respond but she finally lifts her head and spoke. "Mother...I...nobody likes me...nobody. They just see me as a freak because I'm not normal..."

Noel's eyes went wide. "What? Is this girl...my sister?"

Noel's mother smiled softly to the girl. "Don't worry...your father and I have the perfect birthday present for you. Please come with me."

The girl took her mother by the hand and they went out of the room. Noel followed them closely. She thought to herself out loud as the memory was continuing on. "I...didn't know I had a sister...wait...that means that the girl all this time was...!" Noel was afraid because she was afraid to know but too scared to answer her own question.

She followed them a long way before finally reaching the main living room. She was a bit tuckered out. "Wow...this place is huge...I can't believe my parents could afford such a humongous house! Or is this a mansion?" Noel remembered that she was looking at a memory. She continued to observe the memory taking place.

Noel's mother lets go of the girl's hand and talks through a doorway. "Edgar! You may come in with her, now!"

The little girl tilted her head to once side slightly. Noel did the same. "Her?" They both asked at the same time.

Edgar, with an avid smile, made his way into the room, holding a baby that was sleeping peacefully that was wrapped in soft cloths. He spoke with pride. "Thanks, Claire. Happy fifth Birthday, Mu. This is our birthday present to you. Meet your little sister, Noel. We adopted a sister for you so would have somebody to talk with and not be so lonely by yourself."

At the same time, the girl named Mu and Noel who was off to the side had their eyes popped and at the same time they said... "Sister?"

It hit Noel like a hammer right on the top of the nail; she doesn't even remember this at all. It was quiet understandable since she was an infant at the time and of course, she wasn't going to remember stuff like this at a very young age. She was too shocked at the revelation that Mu, the same girl who kept contacting her, is her sister to speak her question out loud.

Edgar moved in close to Mu and presented Mu her little sister. She sat down on a chair and Edgar laid the infant named Noel in Mu's lap. Mu said absolutely nothing to express the emotion she was feeling right now.

Both Edgar and Claire stared with pride as their now two daughters were bonding with each other.

Claire felt extremely optimistic. "I'm hoping that they'll get along..."

Edgar spoke with that same optimism. "I'm sure they will..."

Claire and Edgar moved out of the room to allow their two daughters to privately bond.

Mu's blank stare at her new sister soon turned into one of love. She soon spoke to her sister known as Noel. "You're...my sister. I'm...Mu...it's nice to...meet you. You're...Noel? I'm happy to see you..."

The baby known as Noel had her eyes open at stare curiously at Mu with her beautiful emerald eyes. This captivated Mu even more. "We're...sisters...we're...sisters...that means that we'll sometimes be at each other's throats but we'll never be lonely. I only have one wish, Noel...please...accept me and love for who I am..."

The whole scene grew dark...and Noel found herself standing on the void of pure darkness. Soon, Mu reappeared in front of her. Tears soon flooded from her eyes. Noel wanted answers. "You are my sister? I...I really don't know what I can say to that...I really don't. Why? Why did you want until now in order to tell me this?"

Mu spoke while having her eyes half opened. "I'd like you to think about this. How would you react if I just told you that I was your sister, without having you relive my memory of meeting you? Would you have taken me seriously? What then?"

Noel felt her throat knotted. Mu did have a good point. "No...but...I...I...why don't...I remember...you?"

Mu was silent. She didn't want to reveal anything to Noel. "I understand, you have questions but my memories will solve them. For now...what you saw is the truth...Noel...my sister. I missed you throughout all these years. When I finally came into contact with you, I was overjoyed...but I didn't want to scare you away by telling you outright that I was your sister until I proved it. Now that I have...I await your answer."

Noel became overcome with emotion. She didn't care if Mu wasn't real. She just threw herself onto Mu in an affectionate hug. Noel's wailing was ear-piercing but Mu would allow her ears to be pierced to savor this moment with her sister...

* * *

Well anyway, I'll ask nicely to really appreciate this chapter because I actually had to make it twice in the same day.

Also, give those people a shout out for saving the series.

Well anyway, thanks for reading and I really hope it was worth it.

**Rebel Fifteen: End**


	16. Unbelievable

Hello, everybody, Legna back with another rebel of New Leaf.

This are getting really deep, aren't they? Well, it will only get deeper as we go along here.

So we just found out that Noel met her sister.

* * *

**Rebel Sixteen: Unbelievable **

Mu held Noel tightly in her arms. She longed for the feel of her sister again. Mu lightly stroked Noel's hair as she felt the warmth of Noel's embrace as she cried into her chest. Mu lightly smiled down on her as she felt her sister after all these years apart.

Noel looks up at Mu curiously. "Mu...you have to know why mother and father divorced. Why?"

Mu looked somberly at Noel. "I'm afraid I have to tell you another time. My time with you is done again."

Noel's eyes widened. "What? No! We just realized we're sisters! You can't just leave me alone like this!"

Mu lets out a reassuring smile at Noel. "Don't worry, my sister. My psionic powers allow me to see out your eyes; I'll always be with you. When you sleep, I'll be with you again."

Noel just stared at Mu. "You'll be back when I sleep?"

Mu nodded. "Yes. For now, my request for you is to keep gaining Ragna's trust. Please trust me on this."

Noel nodded. "I will, sister. I will."

* * *

Noel's eyes opened; she was back in the bedroom of the apartment. Noel saw Makoto and Tsubaki sitting on the chairs asleep. She slowly gets up from the bed and nudge both Makoto and Tsubaki awake.

Makoto's eyes bursts open. "NOEL! You were out cold all night! Was it that girl again?"

Tsubaki yawned. "Geez, Noel. What in the world happened?"

Noel didn't know exactly how to tell them what she saw. It would seem to be a bit unbelievable to them, even Makoto who trusts her, that the girl who was contacting her through all this time was her long lost sister. In fact, it would seem as though everything she could tell them would be unbelievable. Noel started to have wrinkles on the forehead; she didn't want to risk her two roommates thinking she was insane or something like that.

Noel gulps. "I...I...I don't know."

Tsubaki's jaw dropped out of disbelief. "You don't know? All that time unconscious and you didn't know what happened?! Noel, you need to go get yourself checked out!"

Makoto shook her head. "Noel, just tell us if the girl came again or not."

Noel slowly nodded her head up and down with her face extremely red.

Makoto stared at Noel with a serious look. Whenever things got serious, Makoto loses the fun façade and starts to take action. "What did that girl say? You can just tell us."

Noel gulped again. Noel felt a bead of swear dripping down her face. "The girl finally told me her name. It was...Mu."

Tsubaki's eyebrow rose. "Mu, eh? That's a letter of the Greek alphabet. It's the same as Lambda and Nu's names. Go on, Noel. We're listen."

Noel took a deep breath. "Basically, she kept stressing to me that I have to gain Ragna's trust. She said that it will save my life but how?"

Makoto scratched her hair a few times. "God only knows how it will save you. But still, I wonder what Ragna has to do with it."

Tsubaki sighed. "I'm getting tired of this nonsense. Noel, I'm sorry but this is just a bit...unbelievable. I can't say I believe you seeing as how you're a sweet girl but...I'm a realist and I don't believe in visions like what you're describing. I honestly think you're trying to sugarcoat your problems when they're really worse than how you say they are."

Noel's head lowered. Her worst fears were coming true. She couldn't blame them, though. It seemed pretty unbelievable to begin with to be fainting for long periods of time.

Makoto growled at Tsubaki. "Tsubaki, why the hell are you turning away Noel?"

Tsubaki looks sternly at Makoto. "Makoto, tell me this: Do you know anyone else that faints out of nowhere and describes a girl in their dreams? More importantly, is there proof that this girl that Noel is describing exists?"

Noel was flat on evidence. It is true. Evidence is the key. She has the evidence but it's too bad that it exists only in a memory.

Makoto sighed. "I...no..."

Tsubaki nods her head up and down. "See? My point exactly. We don't know for sure that there is a girl that's hijacking her mind and speaking with her. Noel could be lying for all we know."

Noel starts to sob. "I'm sorry..." Noel's sobs became louder not long after her apology.

Tsubaki just stared at Noel as she cried while lying back on her bed.

Makoto growled at Tsubaki. "Tsubaki, you're such a bitch!"

Tsubaki huffed at Makoto. "Oh? Just for stating the truth? Explain yourself. Tell me why I should believe that there's a chance that Noel could possibly be telling us the truth."

Makoto took a few moments to think of her words and then spoke. "Tsubaki, there's a saying that goes, 'when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me.' Right now, you have a chance of either making an ass out of yourself when things are proved true. You don't know for sure that Noel could be lying either."

Tsubaki immediately jumped to stand. "Enough of this heresy; that girl does not exist!"

"How do you know?" Makoto rebutted.

"Huh?"

"How do you know for sure that the girl named Mu doesn't exist?" Makoto pressed.

Tsubaki honestly felt at a loss for words. "It's...it's..."

"Yes? Yes? It's?" Makoto felt the edge coming to her.

Tsubaki's face flushed red. "Makoto, this is completely unrealistic! I'm seriously worried for Noel because she could be hallucinating all of this!"

Makoto grinned. "Oh? You're not saying that she "is" hallucinating?"

Tsubaki's eyes popped. "Ah!"

Makoto laughed. "See? That's proof that not even you are sure about this whole thing!"

Tsubaki whips her head away. "Preposterous! It was just a slip of the tongue!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Noel's voice boomed.

Tsubaki and Makoto look at Noel with a surprised look. They see Noel slowly getting up from her bed and moving out with her coat. "I'll be taking a walk. I'll see you later."

Noel quickly makes her way for the door and goes out of it like a speed bullet.

* * *

Where could Noel be off to?

**Rebel Sixteen: End**


	17. Nu Change

Hello everybody! I am back with another rebel of New Leaf!

First of all, I'd like to give a hand to Accentcore8, Bebere and Vesperian-Ivia-Elemental for frequently reviewing this story and telling me what they thought about it. I just want to let these people know that I do not take their reviews for granted and I savor each and every one of them.

Well now that that's done. Please enjoy the new rebel.

* * *

**Rebel Seventeen: Nu Change **

Noel just wanted to escape it all. The sight of her roommates bickering over her was more than she could stand at the moment. She would love to share to the two of them that she has a sister but the fact the Noel couldn't prove it just yet was overwhelming to her.

To make matters worse, all of this is leading to Ragna. Noel's objective is to gain Ragna's trust but seeing as though how one of Noel's roommates doesn't even trust her, it would prove to be an incredibly daunting task, especially with her weakness with the male gender.

All of this negativity Noel wanted to escape. She is sustained only by the assurance that her sister will guide her from somewhere afar but at this point, she would rather meet her sister in the flesh.

While thinking to herself, she was sitting on the edge of a fountain in Orient Town. Noel didn't have a clue as to how she ended up in Orient Town but she did somehow. Noel started to reconcile on how she had her first dinner with a boy. She was starting to giggle just by thinking about it. Now that she thought about it, perhaps she was subconsciously guided by her memories.

Noel clutched her head. She didn't want to think anymore. She didn't want to spend one moment longer in this cruel reality. She just wished she could just go back to sleep and meet her sister again where they could bond more to make up for lost time during their childhood. It would seem to Noel that her sister was her only place of solace at this point but the only way that she could go there was to fall asleep.

Her thought process was interrupted when a girl with silver hair poked her head as Noel was looking down. She looks up at the girl to see that she's looking down at her with a rather cold expression. "Um...yes? Can I help you with something? Oh! You're...one of Ragna's roommates, right? I'm sorry but I forgot your name."

The girl with silver hair sighed. "It's Nu, Noel. What are you doing here?"

Noel stuttered a few times before giving her answer. "Me? Um...I needed to get some fresh air. So...what are you doing here, Nu?"

Nu sat next to Noel on the edge of the water fountain. "Nu always walks this way whenever she needs some time alone. It's been really crazy back in the apartment lately. It's actually perfect that we've met right now because Nu actually wanted to talk to you."

Noel turned to Nu with a curious look. "Me? You wanted to talk to me?"

Nu nodded while looking at the sky. "It's about that guy who attacked you and Ragna."

Noel gulped. She knew that this couldn't be good. "Um, what about it?"

Nu sighed and looked into Noel's emerald eyes with those ruby contacts. "Nu doesn't believe it but Ragna said that you saved him that time because he would have been killed."

Noel blushed a bit. "Um...I just simply warned him to an attack he was unaware of that was coming. That was it."

Nu continued to leer at Noel. "Listen, Noel. Nu doesn't like you for trying to steal Nu's man. However, Nu has a sense of admiration for you because you saved her man as well. Nu couldn't even picture herself in that situation and yet you handled it and therefore saved Ragna's life. So now, we are going to be rivals from now on, is that clear, Noel?"

Noel squawked as her face turned red. "Um...rivals? Uh...I don't actually...have any sort of feelings for Ragna. I...just hung out with him because we agreed to. That's it."

Nu sighed. "If you say so, sis. By the way, since you helped out Ragna, Nu will do you just one favor. Nu will treat you out to lunch in the Orient Town restaurant."

Noel shook her head. "Um, no thank you. I appreciate it, though but I think I'll pass."

Right on cue, Noel's stomach growled.

Nu giggled. "Your stomach says otherwise."

Noel whines. "I hate it when that happens!"

* * *

Inside the restaurant, Noel and Nu were sitting on opposite ends of their table. It was just a grim silence since they came in as they took sips of their tea from time to time.

Eventually, Nu sighs and breaks the silence. "Well, this is so boring. Why don't you tell Nu about yourself?"

Noel took another sip of her tea before replying. "Well, I transferred over here but I'm sure you knew that. I used to live with my mom. My parents are divorced."

An eyebrow rose from Nu. "Nu's sorry to hear that, Noel."

Noel nodded. "Yeah...also...I have a tendency to get a little bit...well...tipsy..."

Nu's eyes popped. "You drink?"

Noel's face flushed once more. "No! No! No! I didn't mean that! I mean like...I might stare out into space now and then and often at times, I'll get me lost in a conversation or while I'm walking. To put it simply, I'm a bit of a klutz. Ha, ha, ha..." Noel giggled after that statement. "But that's enough about me, Nu. Why don't you tell me something about yourself?"

Nu took a few moments to give her reply. "Nu is madly in love with Ragna, as you can tell. In fact, if I see you getting it on with Ragna, I may kill you both. I'm a yandere."

Noel gulps. "I'll keep that in mind."

Nu giggled. "Don't worry. Since Ragna likes you, Nu won't kill you but seriously, Nu might kill you both if I see you and him doing it."

Noel's face flushed. "Nu! That's a little...extreme..."

Nu's head tilted. "How is kissing extreme?"

Noel's face returned to its normal coloring. "Oh...but still...it's a little extreme to think that Ragna and I...you know what? I'd rather change the subject. Uh...could you tell me something about what it's like around the apartment?"

Nu paused for a few moments while examining Noel. "Well...Nu supposes she can tell you a little something in our den of insanity. First of all, Ragna is the only one who has a job and pay off the monthly rent. Nu thinks that the landlord is mean, though. Trust Nu, she knows."

Both girls at the table giggle for a moment.

Nu continued. "Well...Lambda is my sister. She's not as social as Nu but she's sort of like one of those people who will be there when you least expect it. She's nice and Nu loves her sister but she can sound like a robot. Then there's Jin, Ragna's brother."

Noel slowly nods. "Ah, so that's why that Jin boy was slightly protective of Ragna back there. They're brothers."

"Yep...Nu has to go to the bathroom. She'll be right back!" Nu skipped along to the girl's bathroom.

Noel had some time to think to herself. _"I haven't heard anything from Mu yet. I hope that she's alight. Also, it sort of felt refreshing to talk with Nu. It helped me take my mind off of everything that has been going on lately. I need to figure out why it's so important to gain Ragna's trust though...but I'm sure that Mu knows what she's say when she tells me to gain Ragna's trust..." _

A gruff, male voice sounded. "EVERYONE GET DOWN, NOW!"

Noel's eyes popped. She looks in front of her to see many people going under their tables as they gave out shrieks. The voice sounded familiar to her. "Huh!?"

* * *

Once again, you're left to speculate...for now...

**Rebel Seventeen: End**


	18. Two Faces Of Ragna

Down the street, kids. Not across it.

* * *

**Rebel Eighteen: Two Faces Of Ragna**

Noel looks behind her to see a man with a red jacket with black pants on. He is also holding an extremely large and thick sword to boot. Noel's pupils shrunk as she sees that the man also has spikey white hair.

Everyone is on the floor, frightened for their lives. The man took at least three steps into the restaurant before holding a picture of Noel. "I am looking for this girl! I was told she's in this restaurant! Everyone point her out or this restaurant will only be serving blood!"

Everyone soon points Noel out and the man turned to Noel. Noel is too shocked to say what's on her mind. This is the same person who she befriended not too long ago and now she's being kidnapped. "H-Have you gone mad?!" Noel asked with fear and feeling of betrayal.

The man stepped toward Noel and soon, he was hovering above her. He grabs her arm and forces her to stand. "You're coming with, me missy."

Noel felt helpless in this man's tight grip. _"Ragna? No...it can't be Ragna! It...it can't be! I just met him yesterday! I mean...he almost looks exactly like Ragna but it's not him! I refuse to believe that this is Ragna!" _

Nu's shriek could be heard. "Ragna! What's gotten into you?!"

Both Noel and the man turned to see Nu looking at them in anguish. Soon the man puts his sword a few inches from Noel's throat. "Back off and get on the ground right now if you don't want your friend's head to roll."

Nu very slowly obeys the man's command. "What in the world is going on?"

Soon, sirens of the NOL could be heard. Soon, two soldiers from the NOL barge into the restaurant and they point their guns at the man. One of them spoke as he took a step forward. "Bloodedge! We've been looking for you for a long time! Drop the girl right now and turn yourself in!"

The man named Bloodedge turns toward the cops with the sword inches from Noel's throat. "You better not shoot or this girl's head will be rolling before too long!"

The soldier reinstated his command. "Let her go now! You're surrounded!"

Bloodedge scoffed. "Screw you, you pieces of shit! You call yourselves men of the NOL? Do you have any idea what hell I've been through? You shitheads are directly responsible for the hell I've been through all these years!"

Noel squawks with pure fear. "Please! Just let me go! I'll do anything! I promise!"

Bloodedge lowers his head to whisper into Noel's ear. "Listen, I'm not gonna hurt you. I just need you to convince those guys to let us out. All I'm going to do is ask you a few questions and I promise you will make it out alive. Also, your sister will be there."

Noel's eyes popped. "M-My sister?!"

Bloodedge nudges Noel to keep her silent.

The soldier clicks his gun. "LET HER GO OR WE'LL SHOOT!"

Bloodedge sticks his tongue out at the soldiers. "I don't get why you keep saying that! It's not like I'm going to say 'Oh yeah, sure! I'll let her go! Don't take me to prison!'. You get my drift? So screw you!"

The cops looked at each other as if they were at a loss for words but then quickly whipped their heads back at Bloodedge. One of the soldiers spoke. "Hmm...good point, as much as I hate to admit it."

Noel tries to talk to the man named Bloodedge once more. "Listen to me! Just tell me what you want to know!"

Bloodedge looks down at Noel. "You know what I want to know."

Another similar but younger gruff voice boomed. "HEY FAKER ASSHOLE!"

The soldiers lowered their guns as they try to look who's behind Bloodedge. Bloodedge and Noel look behind them as well. It was Ragna. He's looking extremely aggravated while holding his personal pistol. Also, with him was Makoto, Noel's roommate.

Nu squeals. "Ragna! Or the real Ragna! You're here!"

Noel's eyes started to feel a slight emotional wave of relief and fear over seeing Ragna and Makoto there for her. "Ragna! Makoto!"

The soldiers were confused. "What? Two of them? What the hell is going on?"

Ragna clicks his gun. "I'm giving you ten seconds to let my friend go or I'm going to personally put a bullet from this gun through your head."

Bloodedge's voice sounded. "Ragna!"

Noel looks up at Bloodedge while Ragna looks curiously at Bloodedge as well. "Huh? You know me, asshole?"

Bloodedge growls. "Damn it! I didn't expect to see him so soon!"

Ragna misinterprets the sentence in that Bloodedge must fear that he had just arrived. "Damn right, you asshole! Now let the countdown begin! Ten!"

Bloodedge scoffs. "I'm not scared of you!"

Ragna ignored Bloodedge's quip and continued with the countdown. "Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two...one..." Ragna's index finger was about to pull the trigger.

Bloodedge growled. "Fine! Take back your stupid girlfriend!"

Noel felt herself being thrown in the air at Ragna. Soon, she felt herself being caught by Ragna. She looks up to see Ragna's caring face. "Ragna..."

Soon, everything went white. Voices could still be heard, though.

Nu's voice sounded. "Hey! What's this?! Nu can't see a thing!"

Makoto's voice sounded. "Ragna, what the hell did that guy just do?!"

Ragna's voice sounded. "It's a blind bomb. It makes everyone within a twenty yard radius go blind for a little bit. After a while, though you should be able to see again."

Another few more seconds, vision returned for Noel. Noel still felt herself in the clutches of Ragna. "Ragna!"

Ragna looks down at Noel. "Noel..."

Noel's eyes didn't hold back on tears; she was crying very profusely. "You...you saved me..."

Ragna sighed as he continues to hold Noel. "Look...don't start crying again, you hear?"

Noel's sniffling soon turned into full blown crying. "Ragna...I don't know what I would have done without you!"

Ragna growls a bit. "I told you to not start crying again, Noel!"

Noel slowly stood up as Ragna helped her down.

Ragna gulped. "Listen, we're not safe here. Let's go back to my apartment for now."

* * *

Why is writing so hard?

**Rebel Eighteen: End**


	19. Best Friends Forever

Hello people, I am finally back with another rebel of New Leaf! I hope you enjoy some more from Noel's side! Enjoy!

* * *

**Rebel Nineteen: Best Friends Forever**

Noel had been sitting in the guest room since they returned to Ragna's apartment. Noel had not moved from the bed since she first went in there. She had been pondering the last couple of events that had transpired.

"_What is going on here? Who was that man...Bloodedge. Why did he look like Ragna? How does he know my sister? All these crazy things have been happening. I hope I'll get to talk to Mu again soon. I'm still worried about Ragna, though. Those NOL soldiers are interrogating him. I hope he doesn't get arrested. I hope he's not mad at me. After all, he had to save me again. I'm like a helpless maid who can't defend herself." _

A teardrop drips down her face and eventually drops to the surface of the bed.

"_Ragna...please be okay. Just come back...please..." _

Noel hears a knock on the door. "Noel, it's Makoto. Can I come in?"

Noel took a few seconds to respond. "Yes, Makoto...you can come in."

The door slowly opens. Makoto walks inside and closes the door. She sits down on the chair next to the bed. "How are you feeling, Noel?"

Noel stared at the wall in front of her. "I feel terrible, Makoto. Ragna has to save me every time and I can't do anything to help myself. I'm so lucky that Ragna was there every time so far."

Makoto looks down at the floor. "Yeah...I guess you can say that you're pretty damn lucky. But look on the bright side. You're still here with us."

Noel sniveled for a few moments. "I know but...I just wish I knew why all these things have been happening and how I can fend for myself a bit better..."

Makoto sighed. "Noel, to tell you the truth, being kickass doesn't suit you at all."

Noel turns her head slightly toward Makoot. "Why?"

Makoto swallowed her saliva. "Because, that's not who you are. It's true that you might not be able to shit in a situation but you bring something else."

Noel turns back toward the wall. "I bring something else? What do you think that is?"

"That's up to you to figure out, Noel. If I told you, you would never figure it out." Makoto bluntly said.

Noel looks down on the ground. Before she could say anything, the door opens again. Both Makoto and Noel look to see Tsubaki at the doorstep.

Makoto leers at Tsubaki. "Go away, Tsubaki."

Tsubaki returns the dirty look. "Why don't you go since you're the one who's not happy to see me?"

Makoto growls. "You have no right to see, Noel, Tsubaki. You refused to listen to Noel after she told you her story!"

"Don't try to twist what really happened! You know that I listened! I just couldn't believe it! That's it!" Tsubaki said.

Noel's head hung as tears streamed from her face. "Makoto...please stop...I can't blame Tsubaki for not believing me anyway."

"Believing is not the issue here, Noel. It's trust." Makoto stated.

Tsubaki scoffs. "Then trust me that I haven't come rain on the parade any further!"

Makoto's dirty look at Tsubaki became even more dreaded. "Well what is it?! What the hell did you come here for?"

Tsubaki takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry..."

Makoto rolls her eyes. "Oh God..." Makoto rebutted sarcastically.

"Makoto, please be quiet. I want to listen to what Tsubaki has to say." Noel said with somberness.

Makoto turns her back on the two of them. She then retrieves her IPod and becomes immersed in her music world by putting on her earphones.

Tsubaki shook her head at Makoto and sighed. "She always becomes so stubborn that she won't listen to me..."

Noel glances at Makoto before looking up at Tsubaki. "What did you want to tell me?"

Tsubaki takes a seat on the bed next to Noel. "I'm so sorry, Noel. I saw everything. The Ragna lookalike...everything. When I saw that lookalike along with the real Ragna...I was a bit shaken and was worried you could be telling the truth."

Noel looks at the floor. "I'll respect your opinion if you don't believe me. It seemed unbelievable to begin with, anyway."

Tsubaki places a hand on Noel's back. "Noel, your story...I believe it. That incident opened my eyes, Noel. You have my full support. I admit...that I was a stubborn as mule back there. I...was never a fan of all these fantasy world shenanigans. I never believed them to begin with. I always thought that stuff was just make-believe. But now...after seeing that with my own two eyes...I've opened up my horizons to a different level."

Makoto slowly turns her head back.

Noel swallowed her saliva. "What are you trying to tell me, Tsubaki?"

"That I believe that your story is real, Noel. I wasn't a good friend at that time when you needed my support. And for that, I am sorry. This whole incident opened my eyes." Tsubaki softly stated.

Noel looks up at Tsubaki while hunched over, sitting on the bed. Her eyes went a bit wide when she spots something on Tsubaki's eye. "Tsubaki...are you crying?"

"N-No..." Tsubaki timidly stated.

Without thinking, Noel embraces Tsubaki. She softly smiles. "I accept your apology, Tsubaki. Just let it all out. It's good to cry once in a while. You'll get a stomachache, you know?"

Tsubaki started with small sobs. The sobs turned into full-fledged wailing. Tsubaki returned Noel's embrace with a little more tightness in it. "I'm sorry, Noel! I'm so sorry! I was wrong!"

From behind, Makoto joins the hug. Both Noel and Tsubaki took this to their surprise. "Makoto?!" They both proclaimed in unison.

Makoto giggles. "You guys are so cute when it gets fluffy." Makoto tightens her own embrace in the trio of bodies.

"I...I thought you were mad at me..." Tsubaki said to Makoto.

Makoto makes a stern look at Tsubaki. "Yeah...I was. You can be quite an ass when you get anal about something, you know that, Tsubaki? But you and Noel are my BFFs and friends forgive each other. But what I liked about that little soap opera the most was that you admit that you were wrong, Tsubaki."

Tsubaki makes a wide smile and pecked Makoto on the cheek as well as tightly embracing her. "Thank you, Makoto for accepting my apology."

Makoto returns the peck to Tsubaki's cheek. "Don't mention it. We're BFFs, remember?"

Noel puts one arm around each of the two different girl's shoulders. "I'm so happy everything is back to the way it was! I love you both! But still, thanks for having my back, Tsubaki and Makoto."

"You're welcome, Noel. We're here for you. I just wish I was when you needed me back there." Tsubaki said her last sentence with somberness.

"You're here now, Tsubaki. That's what counts." Makoto said to comfort Tsubaki.

"Yes..." Tsubaki acknowledged.

A knock could be heard on the door as well as Nu's voice. "Ragna just came back! Look and see! Look and see!"

Noel gasps. "Ragna!"

* * *

As always, thanks for reading! Hope you'll enjoy more to come!

**Rebel Nineteen: End**


	20. Grave Recall (M Rated Rebel)

**Warning: The following chapter contains graphic, saddening, and horrifying flashback scenes. They include death, murder, and traumatizing experiences. If you are easily shaken by such stuff, either skim the parts you feel are too much for you or skip to the next chapter. Thank you for reading this warning and enjoy the rebel. **

Hello everybody, I am back with probably the most dreadful chapter in this entire series. Like the warning stated, this chapter will contain some pretty sick stuff so if you do not like that kind of stuff going into detail, either skim it or skip to the next chapter, if it's already up.

Enjoy the rebel...I probably shouldn't be saying that...

* * *

**Rebel Twenty: Grave Recall**

Noel walks into the living room where there seemed to be a huge crowd up at the door. From within the crowd, she hears the voice of her savior. "Where's Noel?"

Everyone looks behind to see Noel and they move away so that Ragna saw her and vice versa. Noel stared at Ragna for a good amount of time. _"I owe so much to Ragna. Perhaps I should tell him what's been happening. No...what am I thinking! He...he probably won't believe me. But...at this point, since we're looking for answers, he should probably know about it." _ Noel spoke out loud while lowering her head. I...I'm so sorry, Ragna. I don't know how else to say it but I'm so sorry. All of this is happening to you because of me. I really don't have a clue what's going on anymore. I'm so sorry!" Noel said, trying not to be overcome with emotion.

Ragna sighed lightly. "Noel...we need to talk. You and me just one on one with nobody else..."

Noel looks at Ragna with her curious eyes as she nodded. _"He...he wants to talk? Maybe he does want to listen to my story." _

Makoto places a hand on Ragna's shoulder. "Do you want us to go to my apartment while you and Noel talk?"

Ragna only nodded in agreement instead of vocally replying. Makoto signaled to everyone else that they had to leave. One by one, everyone leaves. Soon, the door's close could be heard. It signaled to Ragna and Noel that they were finally alone, just the two of them.

"_I...I'm finally alone with him. He...he wants to talk with me. Should I tell him?" _Noel thought to herself.

Noel saw Ragna's signal to have a seat next to him on the couch. _"Do what he says, Noel." _Noel nods and takes a seat next to Ragna on the couch. She then awaited the next thing to come out of Ragna's mouth.

"Noel, is there something you're not telling me?" Ragna asked suspiciously.

Noel looks at the floor. _"Tell the truth, Noel." _"No, Ragna. I'm not hiding anything from you." _"Idiot! That was the opposite of what you were supposed to say!" _

"Then why is everything that's been happening leading back to you?"

Noel's face made a shade of red. "Ragna...I...I...I really don't know. I really don't know what's been going on here. All I know is that you're saving me every time so far. I really don't know what to say except...I'm sorry. Noel hung her head once again while sitting down. _"I don't know if I said the right thing to him I hope he understands._

Ragna takes a deep breath. "Noel, I think you and I need to fill the peanut gallery."

Noel's curiosity took her over and she stared at Ragna. "What do you mean by that?"

Ragna stared straight at Noel's eyes. "I mean...that we have to tell each other everything. Because if you and I keep getting involved in this crazy shit that's been happening, that means that something that we know or something that happened is connected. I think we can figure out something if we just tell the truth to each other, you know?"

Noel's face stayed frozen with her gaze directly on Ragna. _"Maybe he has something to tell me, also. Maybe I'll feel more comfortable telling him what my situation is if he can tell his tale first. He must have something to hide, as well." _"I promise to come clean if you promise to come clean with me."

Ragna's face didn't move an inch. "Okay. I'm ready when you are."

Noel swallows once. _"Okay...he's going to tell me his story..." _

Ragna slowly stands up from the couch and started to pace the floor with slowly. "I...I had two siblings and we lived with an old hag. I have a sister and a brother. My brother's name is Jin and my sister...who's now dead...was Saya..."

"_That's the girl who he said I looked like..." _Noel recalled.

Ragna walked to the window that's presenting the night sky and stared out of it as he continued. "I got along with my brother but I got along much better with my sister. We were best friends. That is until...when I found out that she had something. It was leukemia...the chronic kind. It started when I was in middle school. One day, she had a cold. The second day, she had a fever. The third day, her fever never went down and she started vomiting. The fourth day, we decided to take her in for hospital care. The fifth day, she was diagnosed with it. The sixth day, she tried to cure her." Ragna suddenly paused and quivered.

"_This must be so hard for him to share with me..." _Noel thought in her mind.

Ragna continued on. "The seventh day...the doctors told us that had they discovered this earlier, they would have been able to cure it."

Noel gulped. "You mean to say...they couldn't cure it?"

Ragna stayed in grim silence. "Yep...the doctors were about to put her down but I put my foot down and said, 'You bastards couldn't do anything else?' I was in denial but...it was true. If I knew...maybe she would still be alive today. But instead, I volunteered to do it. I volunteered to put my sister out of her misery. I went into her room...alone. She was still alive, but barely. I sat down next to her...and I talked to her. Strangely, she became accepting of the fact she was going to die...and she said that she loved me so much and called me the best brother in the world. After that...she told me to do it..."

Noel gasped and tears started to flow.

Ragna continued to stare out the window. "I did what she asked me to do as my final act of kindness, and as her older brother. As I was going through the injection, she said that she loved me one last time and with her last bit of strength, she lifted her face and gave me a kiss on my cheek. She lay back down on her stretcher and closed her eyes...and that was it. She was gone. I lost my sister."

Noel tried her hardest not to sob out loud for Ragna. Noel, within her tears sees Ragna turning around.

Ragna slowly walks back to the couch and took a seat next to Noel. "If you need to cry...go ahead. I won't stop you."

Noel continued to hold back her sobs. "No...Ragna...please...continue. I'll be strong."

Ragna sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes..." Noel replied immediately.

Ragna took at least ten seconds to continue. "About a year later, I was over Saya. But life became even more messed up for me. That's when the Ikaruga Massacre began."

Noel gasped and wiped her tears. "The...massacre? That's when my father died...right about that time..."

Ragna paused for a moment. "Your daddy died around the massacre? More or less, there could be a chance he lived there...or maybe it's just all a shitty coincidence. Anyway, on a random sunny day, I was asked to fetch some fresh bottled water in the local store, by my old hag of a mommy. I went and got the water. When I got back...I saw it all."

Noel braced herself for the next part of Ranga's story.

Ragna looks at the ground. "I saw everything. The whole town was on fire. I heard people screaming everywhere. I literally dropped my bag of groceries and started running towards the city, worried for my little brother and the old hag. On my way there, an old man stopped me, grabbed my shoulders and said to me, 'Don't go there, son! She's going to kill you!' But I didn't listen. I escaped his hold and went into the town. Everywhere, I could feel the heat of the flames, my hometown just being burnt to the ground. I saw my house a few feet away. The door was opened. I scrambled my way in there and I saw...a girl."

Noel became curious. "A girl?"

Ragna nodded to Noel. "Yeah...a girl. She was looking straight ahead...in the direction of my little brother and old hag just huddled against the wall in plain sight of her. I had no idea what was going on. Were they afraid of this girl? Then...she turns around...and her stare just froze me. I couldn't move, not even a muscle. Her stare was just so...malevolent with murderous intent...and the smile was just...insidious..." Ragna shoulders shrugged at the thought of it.

"_Does this girl...look like me for that guy who claims to be a survivor of the massacre to try and kill me?" _Noel asked herself.

Ragna continued on after his pause. His voice started to have tension in it. "That smile...was instantly burned into my retina. I couldn't move, I couldn't talk, and I couldn't do anything, basically. Then, before I knew it, the girl fell down from a book that struck her at the back of my head...and I felt like I was free from her bind...but not that smile. The old hag pushes my little brother to me and she orders me to escape. I didn't even think; I just did as I was told. My little brother clenched my hand so tight as we were running out of the town. I looked back, the door to our home was still opened. I was hoping that the old hag would just...come with us...but all I heard was her scream...and then I knew...she was dead...in an instant. I screamed for her but my old friend Bang dragged me away after coming out of nowhere. He helped me get out of the town at last."

Noel didn't know it but she was literally crying a river. "I'm...I'm so sorry for you, Ragna..."

Ragna continued the story. "I wanted to run away. I took on multiple jobs, earning money, hopping from one apartment to the next, struggling to support my brother and myself, while we tried to find somewhere to attend school. And that's when I found this apartment. I found this apartment and the landlord Terumi, with this personality, much to my dismay, made us a deal that if we were to pay a set amount of rent each month, rather than a week, he'd let us stay. I couldn't refuse a deal like that. It wasn't long until we met our roommates...Lambda and Nu. Since there were no vacant rooms, Terumi, assigned us a random room to stay in with roommates. They were Lambda and Nu, as I just said. They were basically living off of their recently deceased parent's life savings and had no way of getting a job. I had my job at the manga bookstore at the time and they had the money we were looking for to support ourselves with...so we became really good roommates after that. For once, I felt as though I was finally regaining control of my life."

Noel nodded. "That's good, Ragna..."

Ragna looks into Noel. "After about a year...it all started to become routine. I go to school, go to my job, pay the rent every month and that was it. I had nobody to hang out with, save Makoto since we work together. I had no time for fun, despite all the fun stuff I got with whatever money I set aside for myself. Basically...my life was boring as hell...until I met you, but didn't know it at the time. You had a striking resemblance to my sister, it wasn't even funny."

Noel's eyes popped momentarily. _"That must be why he gave me that funny look when I bumped into him..." _

Ragna continued on. "Just when I was starting to forget...you came into my life. In an instant, memories of my time with Saya began to flash in my head. About later that night, that same night, I bumped into this man wearing a suit. I knew he was dangerous right away. We fought for a little bit but...he shrugged me off like I was nothing and was about to kill me but he didn't. Then he started telling me bullshit like my sister was alive, she was locked up somewhere, thinking about me, all that phony bullshit...and he blackmailed me saying that if I don't meet him again this Thursday, he was going to kill everyone I love in front of me..."

Noel gasps. "That's horrifying!"

Ragna nodded in agreement. "No shit. I had to keep this a secret from the others that night. I didn't want them to think I was crazy. I only told them recently because it was the appropriate time and now...I'm at this point where some shit could potentially go down. Here I am telling this to a girl who looks just like my sister, of all people."

Noel looks down at the ground. _"He had a pretty rough life...he lost both his mother and sister. It makes me feel lucky that I still have my sister as well as my mother...but not my father. I want to help him somehow...but...maybe just the fact that I listened to him...was enough." _

Ragna takes a deep breath in and out. "Wow..."

"What's the matter?" Noel asked Ragna.

"Somehow...I feel like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders." Ragna said as if he were slightly scared.

Noel thought about it for a moment. "I think you're feeling that way because you were able to finally tell someone about your life. Sometimes, you just have to tell somebody in order to truly turn over a new leaf, you know?"

Ragna takes another deep breath of air. "Yeah...I know. Thanks...Noel...for listening to me..."

Noel smiled lightly at Ragna. "You're welcome."

* * *

This has got to be one of the most gut-wrenching things I wrote so far...I hope that if I'm writing this kind of stuff again, it will only come as necessary and/or very sparingly.

As always, thanks for reading and look forward to more, if you're interested.

**Rebel Twenty: End**


	21. Surfacing Emotions

Hey guys...I'm Retireon here and as you can tell...I am not the most awake right now due to...lots of crap...

I barely managed to eek this one out-that didn't sound good-so I hope you guys enjoy it...

* * *

**Rebel Twenty One: Surfacing Emotions**

Ragna sighed. "That's the real reason why I've been awkward around you. I've kept thinking about what to do with that knowledge, what it means."

Noel swallowed once while choosing her words carefully. "Well what do you think it does mean, Ragna? Do you think maybe...I'm supposed to do something for you to heal the pain of your sister somehow?"

Ragna stood from his seat on the sofa walked toward his room. He signaled to Noel to come with him. He leads her to his room and signaled to Noel to grab a seat on his bed. Noel obeys and Ragna searched his nightstand. He finds that picture he had of him and Saya and showed it to Noel.

Noel's eyes widened. _"So that's Saya..." _"You two must have been really close with each other."

Ragna nodded. "Yeah...we were like best friends. Now do you see why?"

Noel gently places the photo on the bed and looks up at Ragna. _"I understand why he feels awkward with me now. He tried to let her go and with me around him...; he doesn't want to go back to the past...but I'm not Saya..." _"Yes...I do..."

Ragna takes a seat next to Noel on the bedside. "So why don't you tell me about what's up with you? I told you about me so now it's time to tell me about yourself."

Noel swallows hard. "Ragna...please promise that you'll believe me. This isn't easy to believe as it is with your story..."

Ragna sighed. "Hey, we promised no secrets, yeah? So out with it; I'm listening."

Noel stared at the wall for a few seconds before turning to Ragna. "Okay...I'll tell you..."

Noel told Ragna her side of the story. She stared with how she was with her family. Then she told him about her vision and soon about the girl who was calling her through telepathy and how she was her sister. She then told him about the man that nearly kidnapped her and how he was going to take her to her sister.

Ragna's eyes went wide. "Really? He said that? It wasn't a joke?"

"Y...yes..." Noel struggled to say. _"He listened to my story...all of it. He's...a true friend."_

A very long and grim silence occurred. They share their two tales. The silence was broken by Noel's soft sobbing. _"He believes me...I'm so happy! I...I..." _

"What's the manner?" Ragna asked monotonously.

Noel sniffed. "Th-thank you...for listening to my story..." Noel's sobbing started to become louder. _"Do...do I really?" _

Ragna slowly stood up from his chair and sat down on the bed, next to the spot where Noel was. In an instant, Noel was wrapped in Ragna's arms. Noel became extremely surprised at the action Ragna took.

"_Oh my gosh...he feels so warm. _Noel's sobbing became even louder but muffled because her face was buried within Ragna's chest. "THANK YOU!" Noel yelled into his chest. She snuggled her head deeper into Ragna's chest.

"You're welcome." Ragna softly stated.

* * *

A little while later, Ragna had just got off the phone with Makoto. Ragna had just convinced Makoto to let them be together for the night. Noel is lying down on the bed, next to Ragna, facing away from him. Noel overheard Makoto's angry voice over the phone but didn't catch what she said. "Makoto seemed pretty mad over me.

"Yeah...she's worried about you, you know."

"She should be." Noel stated blatantly.

"So will you hear from your sister again?" Ragna asked Noel.

"_My sister? I haven't heard from her in a while." _Noel noticed and thought to herself.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Ragna said.

Noel's heart started pounding. _"Do I...no...I...I just like him a lot. I don't want to lose him...that's all." _"Ragna, I'm scared."

Ragna sighed. "Noel, I know that you're somehow this avatar with telepathic powers and shit but at least you-"

Noel's head spoke for her. "I'm scared for you, Ragna."

"Why's that?" Ragna asked.

Noel sat up on the bed, feeling her face becoming hot. "Because, this is all my fault. If I didn't get transferred here, you would be in the mess you are right now. If I just didn't come here, everything would have still been fine with you." _"Oh geez...what am I saying?" _

Ragna sighed once more. "Look, Noel. None of us knew this was going to happen, okay? Don't get all teary face on me, you hear? We can't change anything at this point. Also, it's not your fault."

"Yes it is." Noel said adamantly. "You keep saving me when I'm in trouble. You almost got killed because of me. I keep worrying my friends because of my blackouts. I know that nobody would take my story seriously. I mean...you and Makoto are the only ones who believe me."

Ragna's head turns to Noel. "In other words...you're getting swayed by events and you can't do a damn thing to save yourself. Is that what you're saying?"

Noel lies back down on the bed, facing away from Ragna, and curls herself up. "That pretty much sums it all up. I'm a hindrance to everyone around me. Everyone has to take care of me. Without anyone, I can't do anything. Maybe it would be better for everyone if I were to just...disappear..." _"It makes me wonder if I'm worthy to be with someone like him..." _

Ragna sighed heavily and moved a few inches closer to Noel. "What the hell is the matter with you, Noel?"

Noel flips herself over to face Ragna. _"He doesn't think it's my fault?" _"Ragna, stop it!" Noel said defensively as she started to harbor tears.

Ragna went on a tirade on Noel. "Did anyone think you were going to be in this kind of situation? No. You get swayed through events with everyone having to save your ass when you get in danger but does that mean you're totally useless? No. Life is being a total bitch to you but does that mean you should just end it by killing yourself? Also, no. Life's an unfair bitch, kid. It's not all hugs and sunshine like in the fairy tales. When life becomes unfair to you, you got to be unfair back. Sometimes you have to cut corners to get what you want! Tell me right now, Noel. What DO you want?"

Noel squeezed her eyes shut. "All I want is for this to end."

Noel felt Ragna's warm hand placed on her left shoulder. She felt a burning sensation on that spot yet it made her feel comfortable. _"His touch...feels...so nice..." _

Ragna continued his tirade."Thinking it will not get you anywhere, Noel. You need to take action. You need to turn over new leafs and change what and how you think in order to survive! Life's a bitch. Get the hell over it before it becomes an even bigger bitch!"

Noel sits up on the bed. She places her right hand over her left shoulder which is being covered by Ragna's right hand. _"He...he does...care..." _"What do I need to do in order to do that?"

Ragna thought about his answer for a few moments. "That's up to you to find, Noel. You need to find the answer. Nobody else can answer that particular question for you, Noel. Only you can answer that question. Your life is not my life so I wouldn't know."

Noel had this blank stare toward Ragna. _"I don't know what my life is about at this point but he's right. I have to work to find the answers to my questions in order for it to be an answer. He's...helped me so much. I...I...I do...I do...and I...accept. I...I have to let him know somehow..." _"Thank you again, Ragna." Noel had a faint smile on while saying that monotonously.

"Whatever." Ragna replied.

Noel started to crawl on the bed, toward Ragna. _"I have to let him know...but I don't know if he feels the same way..." _

Ragna's face and her own were just inches apart from each other. _"But...I feel like...this is something I must do..._

"What are you doing?" Ragna asked with slight fear in his voice.

"Taking action." Noel replied almost immediately. "You're a good boy, Ragna." _"I...I...I have to let him know...that..."_

Ragna's eyes popped. "What the hell does that supposed to mea-"

"Stop talking." Noel closed her eyes and pursed her lips. Then...she pressed her lips against Ragna's.

"_...I love him..." _

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I'm on my way to the bed! Good night! XD

**Rebel Twenty One: End**


	22. Burdened Knowledge

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT'S UP, EVERYBODY?! Man, how long has it been since I made a chapter of New Leaf? Way too long! I apologize for those of you who I left hanging but I'm finally back with some more New Leaf! I am so excited to work on this series again!

This is a key intertwining chapter with Chapter 22 of Life's Stimulant. If you lost knowledge of the whole plot, I suggest you read over the previous chapters, be it New Leaf and Life's Stimulant.

As always, ENJOY, PEOPLE!

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**Chapter Twenty Two: Burdened Knowledge **

Noel had her eyes closed as she felt her lips against Ragna's. For the first time, she acted on her feelings for Ragna, kissing him passionately. The feelings she's experiencing are nothing like before. It was like a caveman discovering fire for the first time.

"_His lips are so warm...this feeling...it's so...I can't...describe it..." _

After a few more seconds, Noel separates her lips from Ragna's. She slowly opens her eyes to see a completely dumbfounded Ragna. Noel couldn't help but feel bewildered by this. Yet, she also felt amusement as well.

Ragna tried to speak as calmly as possible while in his state of utter shock. "Noel...what in the hell did you just do and why did you do it?"

Noel giggled. "I was hoping you'd recognize a kiss when you see one, or rather feel one."

Ragna made an exaggerated face. "I KNOW WHAT IT IS! Why the hell did you do that?!"

Noel had a wide grin on her face. She was having fun. "Just accept it, okay? It's a thank you for all that you've done for me. After all, you said I should take action, right?"

Ragna threw his hands up in the air. "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT AT ALL!"

"_Tee-hee! This is so much fun! I should kiss him more often if he's going to be this way." _Noel still had that wide grin on her face. "By the way, Ragna..." Noel started to say, with her voice starting to sound a bit more flirtatious and mischievous. "...you're more innocent than you look. Was that the first time a girl kissed you?" Noel asked while maintaining that insidious look.

Ragna turns his back on Noel, sitting with his arms crossed. "Never mind..."

Noel giggles again. She had Ragna on the ropes and planned to gain more of an advantage. "Would you like to have another kiss? Life is short, you know, and you might not get the chance to have another one with a nice girl like me."

Ragna whips his head around to face Noel. "Hey, shut up, will you?"

Noel's insidious look disappeared. It always felt cold to have someone tell her to shut her mouth. "Just kidding! Geez, you have no sense of humor, you know that?"

Ragna turn his whole body around to face Noel. He makes the stop sign with his right hand. "Okay, shut up! Just...shut up! Will you please just shut up? Also, since when did you become so straightforward all of a sudden?"

Noel's happy look reappeared on her face. "Since I took your advice that I have to take action when life turns against me and that I have to be tougher." Noel stuck her tongue out at Ragna with that last word said.

Ragna's eyes thinned. "Nobody likes a smartass, Noel. You're really getting on my nerves."

Noel giggled again. She had no idea why she felt so alive from the kiss, but she couldn't complain. "But seriously, thanks, Ragna. You really changed me for the better. I promise that I won't let you down." Noel smiled at Ragna.

Ragna made a slight chuckle before responding. "Yeah...no problem. Uh, by the way, why did your lips taste so weird? It tasted like...snot..."

Noel's eyes popped while she blushed. "Uh...it's probably from all the crying I did..."

Ragna makes a disgusted look on his face. "Ugh! Gag me! Go wash your face or something or wipe your face with a hanky!"

Noel makes a childish pouty face and makes her way to the bathroom.

Once in the bathroom, she takes the time to wash her face thoroughly.

"Noel..." A voice spoke from in front of her.

"Huh?" Noel looks up at the bathroom mirror in front of the sink to see her sister staring at her in the face from the mirror. She almost yelped but stopped at the last second. "What are you doing here?"

Mu signals Noel to be quiet from the mirror. "There's no time to waste. The man who supposedly held you hostage was supposed to take you to me but your idiot boyfriend interfered with his ability to do so."

Noel blushed at the revelation. She admits in her mind that she fell for Ranga but she doesn't know if Ragna fell for her. "I...had a feeling. He said that he was going to take me to you...and he wasn't going to hurt me."

Mu nodded. "Unfortunately, Ragna interfered. The bounty hunter known as Bloodedge is his biological father. That's why he knows Ragna."

Noel gasps. "Really?! You can't be serious!"

Mu signals once again for Noel to lower her voice. "I couldn't be any more serious, Noel."

Noel shudders. "Well...why are you telling me this?"

"Because it is important for you to know, sister."

"Well shouldn't Ragna be told that instead of me?" Noel brought up a good point.

"You have a good point, sister. However, since you recently told him about me, you have to tell him that the bounty hunter Bloodedge is his father and you learned that from me." Mu stated monotonously.

Noel scoffs. "He's never going to believe me!"

"Well in the end, it's his choice to believe what he wants to believe, sister. It's unfortunate but there's nothing you can do about it. As long as you tell him eventually, you would have at least done your part."

Noel looks down at the sink. "Alright...I'll tell him...I'll try...but I can't guarantee anything, sister..."

"Just tell him eventually, sister dear..." Mu's voice echoed.

Noel looks up at the sink once again to see her reflection instead of Mu's in the mirror. She stares at her reflection for a good amount of seconds before finally leaving the bathroom. She mentally sighs while returning to the room. _"Why me?" _Noel lies down beside Ragna on the bed.

Ragna turns his head toward Noel. "I really don't get you, you know that? You're a bimbo, yet a crazy one as well. But somehow...I like it."

Noel turns toward Ragna with a smile. "Well thank you."

Ragna faces towards the ceiling again. "You know...you were kind of like Saya...for that moment there. Maybe that's why I liked that moment with you for a bit there."

"What was Saya like, Ragna?" Noel asked with curiosity. It's enough that looking like her was odd enough to Ragna.

Ragna blinked once before responding. "Well, she was kind of like how you were. She liked to mess with me and she's kind of softhearted like you. She always fought with my little brother, though."

"Mmm..." Noel could only manage to say. _"Was she really just like me?" _

Ragna turns toward Noel. "You sleepy?"

"Yeah...kind of." _"I have burden knowledge..." "_Boy...it's been quite a night, hasn't it?"

Ragna closed his eyes. "Yeah..."

"So what are we going to tell the others tomorrow?" Noel asked.

Ragna answered with his eyes closed. "We're just going to tell them what we discussed and how our stories connect with each other."

"Oh..." _"Should I tell him or not?" _

Ragna opens his eyes and turned his head toward Noel. "You expected something else?"

"No but...I uh...I...um..." _"Make up your mind, Noel!" _

Ragna saw Noel becoming tongue tied. "What's the matter with you now?"

Telling new knowledge from her sister wasn't really sitting right with her. She wants to tell him but her nervousness really interfered with my ability to do so. "I...uh...you've been a nice boy to talk to. I don't think I've ever been this close with a boy before..." _"Good job, Noel. Maybe you should tell him later." _Noel's face became even redder. "Uh...what I'm trying to say is...uh...thanks for...being a nice boy to talk to. I really had fun with our date, aside from the attack, you know?"

Ragna stayed silent. Instead he just bobbed his head up and down.

Noel continued. "Well...I mean...we've been through a lot despite that us knowing each other for a short time..." _"This is bad! This is so bad! You're making a fool of yourself, Noel!" _Noel looks over at Ragna to see him shaken.

"Are you alright?" Noel asked Ragna.

Ragna quickly shook his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Because you were looking discombobulated. Was it something you were thinking?" Noel asked curiously.

Ragna sighed and flips sides on the bed, facing away from Noel. "Never mind. I'm turning in. Good night." Ragna said in an attempt to prevent the conversation from going further.

"Oh...good night...but can I ask you one more question?"

Ragna only nods.

"Do you trust me?" Noel asked with wonderment.

"Yes, Noel, I trust you. Don't worry about it." Ragna replied impatiently. "Now go to sleep. We got a long day ahead of ourselves tomorrow. I can guarantee it."

"Yes...Ragna...good night..." Noel lies down facing away from Ragna. _"How am I going to tell him? This is really...driving me crazy..."_

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Once again, I'd like to apologize for taking so long with this. I hope that you're satisfied with this new chapter! PEACE!

**Chapter Twenty Two: End**


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